​​Michigan Highway 42 is a short east-west highway connecting Manton and Lake City, in northwestern portions of the Lower Peninsula.  (Manton is the next town north of Cadillac.) Though the position of US Route 131 in the Manton area moved slightly eastward with the construction of the freeway bypass, the western end of Michigan Highway 42 did not move. The north-south main drag through Manton was served by the main route of US Route 131, but today, it's a business alignment of US Route 131 that serves as an alternate.  The southern end of business US Route 131 cuts back east to the freeway; the point where the business route cuts back toward the freeway is the point where Michigan Highway 42 is born.  While the business route of US Route 131 ends at the US Route 131 freeway, Michigan Highway 42 continues eastward and southeastward, ending at Michigan Highway 66 just north of Lake City.  Michigan Highway 42 is only about ten miles long.  Much of the traffic reaching the eastern end of the route will jog two miles to the south on Michigan Highway 66 so they can continue eastward on Michigan Highway 55 out of Lake City.

My photo of Michigan Highway 42 comes from the western terminus in Manton that I spent a long time explaining.  The aperture, and traffic reading this signage, looks down a roadway carrying the final stretch of Business US Route 131, and the very first steps taken by Michigan Highway 42. We're looking east toward the US Route 131 freeway.  Depicted is the first eastbound reassurance marker for Michigan Highway 42. This photo was taken at the start of August 2022, as I was wrapping a trip around northern Michigan.

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