Business US Highway 131 (
BUS US 131) was a
business loop running through downtown
Grand Rapids. The southern end was at a partial interchange with
US 131 south of the S-Curve near the
Grand River. Only northbound traffic on US 131 could directly access the business loop at this interchange, running northward on a long ramp that connects to Ottawa Avenue at an intersection with Cherry Street. Bus. US 131 followed Ottawa Avenue northward between parking lots, and after one block, it turned eastward onto Oakes Street immediately south of the
Van Andel Arena. The business loop traveled three blocks along Oakes Street past commercial properties before turning northward onto Division Street. As the highway ran along Division Street, it passed the various businesses, the campuses of
Kendall College of Art and Design and
Grand Rapids Community College. It also passed under Michigan Avenue at the base of the hill that makes up the
Medical Mile. Immediately north of the Michigan Avenue overpass, Bus. US 131 passed under
Interstate 196 (I-196) without an interchange. Division Street here runs at the base of Belknap Hill through an area of the city dominated by industrial-type properties. North of an intersection with Coldbrook Street, the business loop switched to Plainfield Avenue and turned northeasterly. One block later, Bus. US 131 turned westward onto Leonard Street. The business loop followed Leonard for a few blocks and then crossed the Grand River. On the western bank of the river, Bus. US 131 met its parent highway at exit 87 and terminated. The streets that carried the business loop have either two or four lanes with an additional center turn lane. The designation was created when US 131 was rerouted on the Grand Rapids beltline system in 1953. Previously, a
Bypass US 131 (Byp. US 131) designation was used on the beltline system following 28th Street and East Beltline Avenue. After the change, the former mainline through downtown on Division Street and Plainfield Avenue was redesignated Bus. US 131, and the mainline US 131 replaced Byp. US 131. In December 1962, the
I-296/US 131 freeway was completed west of downtown. Afterwards, Bus. US 131 was truncated on its southern end to the modern exit 84B interchange on the south side of downtown. At the same time, the northern end was also truncated, using Coldbrook Street and Monroe Avenue to Leonard Street to connect back to the freeway. In 1986, the city and state transferred jurisdiction over some streets at the northern end of the business loop, smoothing out the routing of the northern end of Bus. US 131 and eliminating some extra turns between Plainfield Avenue and Leonard Street. The construction of the
Van Andel Arena in 1995 and 1996 severed the connection from southbound Bus. US 131 to US 131. This gap was rejoined with the reconstruction of the "S-Curve" in 1999. In August 2017, the city and MDOT announced that jurisdiction of the business loop was being transferred to city control, decommissioning the trunkline in the process. Jurisdiction was transferred in December, and the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved the removal of the designation in May 2018.
Major intersections {{MIint {{MIint ==Big Rapids==