The St. Joseph Valley Parkway: the bypass that became the highway

1960–1998 · THE SOUTH AND EAST FREEWAY

The parkway was built in pieces over thirty-eight years, and the record of its pieces does not entirely agree with itself: The freeway around South Bend's south and east sides — the road that today carries US 31 down from Michigan and US 20 across the city's south — began as a bypass of US 20 alone. Its first section, between US 20 on the west side and State Road 2, was completed by 1960 on the route record; a second account of the parkway's history says by 1962, and the two dates are printed together, unreconciled. The road was designated Bypass US 20, reached State Road 23 by 1964 with construction continuing toward US 31, and was completed to US 31 by the mid-1970s. The Toll Road interchange at its north end is dated 1979 in the parkway's compiled history, while the interchange exit record dates the opening of the US 31 interchange — today's Exit 72 junction — to 27 October 1980; both stand in the record.

In 1982 the designation changed: Bypass US 20 was replaced by US 31, and the parkway became the north–south highway's road, with Business US 31 left on the city streets. The eastern extension followed in the early 1990s, from the Michigan Street junction east to US 20 at County Road 17, the Michigan Street–to–State Road 331 segment paved first, by 1991; US 31 was moved onto the completed eastern portion in 1992. The Nimtz Parkway connection to the Toll Road opened 3 September 1993, and its ramps were completed in 1998 — the year Indiana's portion of the freeway was finished and US 20 came off the downtown streets. The name itself is interstate: Michigan adopted "St. Joseph Valley Parkway" in 1993 and Indiana in 1995, with dedications following in each state; Michigan's last segment, to Napier Avenue, opened 27 August 2003 at a cost of $97 million.

The finished road carries US 31 from the Michigan line to the US 20 interchange at Lincolnway West, US 20 and US 31 together to the Michigan Street interchange just south of downtown, and US 20 alone east to County Road 17 — the corridor geometry the Michigan Road's surveyors would have recognized: south around the bend, and east and west along the river's valley.

Sources:

1. The Indiana route record (roadfan compilation) — the first section US 20 to State Road 2 completed by 1960 and apparently unnumbered; Bypass US 20 designation; completed to State Road 23 by 1964; to US 31 by the mid-1970s; the 1982 replacement of Bypass US 20 by US 31; the eastern extension by 1991 and US 31's move onto the portion completed in 1992.
2. The compiled history of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway — the first section "by 1962," the Toll Road interchange finished 1979, the Nimtz Parkway connection of 3 September 1993 and ramps completed 1998, Indiana's portion completed 1998, the name adopted by Michigan in 1993 and Indiana in 1995, and Michigan's Napier Avenue segment of 27 August 2003 at $97 million.
3. The parkway's interchange exit record — the US 31 interchange (Exit 72) opening dated 27 October 1980, printed against the compiled history's 1979.