All Mentions of this Northern Michigan Town Have Been Removed from the State Highway System – Here’s Why

There's a small town in the Eastern Upper Peninsula that has been removed from guide signs on the state highway system. The town is Pickford. It is roughly 20 miles off of I-75 but there are signs along the freeway directing drivers to the town. However, the state's Department of Transportation has recently covered the town name 'Pickford' has been covered up by MDOT.

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The reason why - a massive construction project that has blocked the most direct access between I-75 and Pickford.

The 'Pickford' exit is numbered 373 and is for M-48. The locations mentioned on the green guide sign are Rudyard/Pickford.

After leaving the highway, M-48 takes an odd path. It runs west to Rudyard, south along Mackinac Trail for about four miles then turns due east crossing I-75 without an exit and then continuing the 15-or-so miles to Pickford.

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Where M-48 makes its turn in Rudyard, there are directional signs that point to Pickford. Those are currently covered just like along the mainline I-75.

Here's the odd pathway that's different than other state highways.

Turning right off of I-75 may appear to be a shortcut to Pickford by bypassing Rudyard. While locals may take that route, the southbound route, Hantz Road, is dirt between 19-Mile Road and M-48, so not fit for heavy travel nor truck traffic that the state trunk routes were designed for.

The question came up recently on a subreddit on Reddit dedicated to the Upper Peninsula. A traveler saw the missing Pickford mentions and asked

Got off 75 at exit 373, and noticed that Pickford was blocked off/covered on all the Rudyard/Pickford exit signs. Even signs off the Highway had Pickford covered. Does anyone know why?

The internet was quick to supply the answer - there's a massive construction project for the M-48 bridges across I-75. The project calls for the bridge to be fully replaced and has required a complete closure of M-48.

Here's what the aging bridge M-48 looked like prior to the construction project.

The road closure has called for long detour to Pickford via M-80 at Kinross. Because the standard M-48 exit no longer properly serves traffic to Pickford, that explains why the town's name has been removed from the state highway system. It's not that the town has vanished and Pickford has suddenly become Silent Hill.