No One Definitively Agrees On the Shortest Street in Michigan

There are many interesting elements of highway lore when it comes to Michigan. The state is home to the only car-free highway in the nation with M-185 circling Mackinac Island. It has the soon-to-be-decommissioned shorted signed interstate in the nation with Detroit's I-375.

As for the shortest highway in the state, that distinction is often given to M-212 which provides access to Aloha State Park in the northern Lower Peninsula.

Get our free mobile app

But what is the shortest street? That is a question that is up for debate.

When we say street, we're referring to a city, village or township maintained and named roadway. There are many alleyways or courts that may quality, we're limited our survey to streets designed to be just that - streets, rather than a small residential court or connecting alleyway not intended for through traffic.

What Michigan will not be able to claim is the title of shortest street in America. That distinction is locked up by Bellefontaine, Ohio's McKinley Street. At just 15 feet and connecting two other streets converging at an odd angle, this is widely recognized as the shortest named street anywhere.

More Michigan Road Lore

Some of the Shortest Streets In Michigan

Across Michigan, it's difficult to find a street that's less than 100 feet. The question comes up on internet forums like this one about Detroit streets or this one asking about Marquette with lots of possibilities tossed around.

There are hundreds of streets that run just a single block. As a general rule-of-thumb those streets will clock in around 300 feet, far too long to be in contention for the Shortest Street title. One such example is Middle Street in downtown Detroit between Clifford and Cass/Grand River.

Beyond running for a single block or shorter, there generally has to be some geographic quirk that curtails the length of the street.

Mint Street, seen above, is in the Detroit neighborhood of Springwells. The street is stunted by a railroad track and quickly dead-ends at 115 feet.

Palms Street in Marquette, today truncated due to construction of a roundabout measures just over 200 feet.

Shortened by running into Interstate 69, 15th Street in Flint is just 200 feet long.

👇🏼BELOW: These Michigan Highways Come to a Complete Dead End + These Short, Overlooked Michigan Highways Exist Only to Leave the State👇🏼\

Orderly street grids were streets meet and nice, tidy right angles and form block after city block almost never produce the quirky angles needed for really short streets. It's an enjoyable (at least to someone like me) exercise to explore Google Maps looks for just the right set of geographic circumstances to find these elusive short streets. It's likely there is no conclusive answer as to the true shortest street in Michigan.

These Michigan Highways Come to a Complete Dead End

Nearly all highways exist to connect you from one place to another. When you come to the end of the road, there's almost always somewhere else to go. Somewhere to turn. But there are parts of Michigan's highway system that don't leave you anywhere else to go - Michigan's dead end state highways.

Gallery Credit: Eric Meier