to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. When US 33 was truncated back to Niles, M-63 was commissioned in its place along the route it now follows. The numbering change happened in September 1986. The expressway portion of M-63 is a relic of a now revised plan of a freeway corridor through the St. Joseph–Benton Harbor area. The highway was significantly reconfigured in 2000–2002, with the overpass over the industrial access road to Whirlpool's warehouse in Benton Harbor and a rail line removed and rebuilt in late 2000 through early 2001, and one of the two grade-separated interchanges, at Klock Road, demolished and downgraded to an at-grade intersection in 2002. Today, there are only two overpasses over smaller roads existing on this stretch of expressway. In 2016, all of M-63 was designated as part of the West Michigan Pike Pure Michigan Byway. Blossomland Bridge The Blossomland Bridge over the St. Joseph River is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The span is a Scherzer rolling-lift bascule, a type of moveable bridge. The bridge was built as part of a 1940s plan to relocate US 31 through St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. Those plans were delayed by World War II. The bridge was completed in late 1948 using the rare design prepared by a firm from Chicago that specialized in bascule bridges. The state paid a total of $1.3 million for what was called "the largest bridge ever built under the auspices of the State Highway Department". Major intersections See also References External links M-63 at Michigan Highways 063 Freeways and expressways in Michigan U.S. Route 31 U.S. Route 33 Lake Michigan Circle Tour Transportation in Berrien County, Michigan