St. Joseph Valley Parkway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The St. Joseph Valley Parkway is a limited-access divided highway in the U.S. states of Michigan and Indiana, serving as a bypass route around Niles in Michigan and South Bend, Mishawaka, and Elkhart in Indiana. It lies to the west of Niles, to the west and south of South Bend, and to the south of Elkhart and consists of segments of U.S. Highway 31 and U.S. Highway 20; those two highway designations overlap at the southwestern rim of the South Bend metropolitan area.
East of Benton Harbor, Michigan the highway is under study due to environmental, economical and historical site issues. A few alternative extensions to this roadway involve connecting directly to Interstate 196 at Interstate 94, and another involves connecting it directly to I-94 BL at I-94 near Benton Harbor with auxiliary lanes to I-196. As per the study, it is scheduled for completion in 2015, when it will connect to Interstate 196.[1] Until the freeway is complete, U.S. 31 follows a recently-upgraded Napier Avenue westward to I-94. To the east in Indiana the freeway feeds into an undivided segment of U.S. 20 at Elkhart County Road 17.
It has no tolls. No part of it is part of the Interstate Highway System, although some segments are up to Interstate Highway standards and may become part of the Interstate System if and when U.S. 31 between South Bend and Indianapolis is upgraded to or replaced by an Interstate Highway. A few notable exceptions to Interstate-quality elements that exist on this freeway include a nonstandard median barrier with short height. There is a direct driveway to one of Indiana's State Highway Maintenance facilities from the Eastbound lanes near Elkhart. Other than at the St. Joseph County Line, there are no breaks in the median barrier within Elkhart County.
