along Main Street across the river into Benton Harbor, Michigan where it follows the Lake Michigan shoreline along a short expressway segment. The trunkline exits Benton Harbor near the headquarters of the Whirlpool Corporation. North of town, the highway provides access to many lakeshore properties north of Benton Harbor at it continues northeasterly along the shoreline to the community of Lake Michigan Beach. When the highway meets Hagar Shore Road, M-63 turns east along that roadway to an interchange with I-196/US 31. The shoreline roadway continues northeast as A-2 (Blue Star Highway) while M-63 terminates at an interchange with I-196/US 31. This northernmost segment of the highway had the lowest AADT measurement in 2009 when calculated by MDOT at 2,855 vehicles. Various highways in the United States are listed as a part of the National Highway System (NHS), a system of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. M-63 has been listed as a part of the NHS from its southern terminus to the northern junction with BL I-94 in St. Joseph. As the closest state highway to Lake Michigan in the area, M-63 from the southern junction with BL I-94 to its northern terminus has been used as a part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, a tourist route that circles Lake Michigan. History Previous designation M-63 originally ran from Peacock in Lake County west through Luther to M-13 (later US 131) in Osceola County on July 1, 1919. This highway was extended in 1930 along US 131 to Tustin and then to a terminus with M-66 in Marion. At the same time, M-37 was extended north from Baldwin to meet M-63 east of Peacock. This eastern extension was truncated in 1932 when it was redesignated as part of M-61. A short connector roadway, M-179, was designated in 1935 between M-63 and US 131, forming a small triangle of highways. The western end was shortened in 1939 so that M-63 ended at M-37 instead of continuing west to Peacock. The M-179 designation was decommissioned in 1959 or 1960, removing that short highway from the state trunkline highway system. M-63 was decommissioned in 1961 when the roadway was transferred back to local control. Current designation The current designation of M-63 was created in 1986. Before the designation, US 33 ran north into Michigan south of Niles. From there it followed US 31 north to Scottdale and ran alone