M-15 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. The southern terminus is a junction with US Highway 24 (US 24) just south of Clarkston on the northwestern edge of the Detroit metropolitan area. The trunkline is a recreational route running north and northwest to the Tri-Cities area. The northern terminus is the junction with M-25 on the east side of Bay City. The total length is about between the two regions. The original M-15 designation was used in the northern half of the state in 1919. This designation was wholly replaced by the US 41 on November 11, 1926. This previous designation contained the section of highway in Marquette County that is home to the first painted highway centerline in the nation. Another section in western Marquette County included the first bridge built by the state of Michigan. Within the next year after M-15 was replaced by US 41, the designation was reused for a new highway routing along the current highway. This current highway was extended northerly to eventually end at Interstate 75 (I-75) in Bay City, before it was scaled back slightly to end in southeast Bay City. A proposed, but unbuilt, extension around the west side of Metro Detroit later became part of the I-275 corridor. This highway is now a part of the Pure Michigan Byway System, but none of it is located on the National Highway System. A section of the two-lane highway has the local moniker, "Death Alley", where the local sheriff says the highway is poorly designed. The stretch of highway in Genesee County has been the location of 14 traffic fatalities between 2004 and 2009 as reported by The Flint Journal, including that of a 14-year-old local girl. Route description M-15 runs through mostly rural agricultural communities of The Thumb connecting the northern edge of Metro Detroit with the Tri-Cities area. It starts at a junction south of the village of Clarkston in northern Oakland County. The highway runs north along Ortonville Road from the intersection with US 24 (Dixie Highway) near Deer and Middle lakes through Clarkston. Continuing through town on Main Street near Parke Lake, it comes to an interchange with I-75 north of the village next to Little Walters Lake. South of Ortonville near Lake Louise and Bald Eagle Lake, M-15 turns northwest between the two lakes. The trunkline becomes State Road at the