and through Batavia Center. In Coldwater Township, M-86 experienced its lowest traffic level in 2009 at 1,872 vehicles and 129 trucks AADT. The highway terminates at US 12 west of Coldwater near the Branch County Memorial Airport and Messenger Lake. No segment of M-86 has been listed on the National Highway System, a system of roads important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. History Previous designations Upon its inception in 1921, a very different M-86 was routed along a portion of present-day M-66 from M-46 at Six Lakes northward to Remus, ending at M-24 (modern M-20). A few years later in 1924–25, M-66 was extended north to Remus, supplanting the contemporary M-86. At the same time, the M-86 designation was relocated to Ionia County to run from M-44 in Orleans to M-43 (present day M-66) just east of there. In late 1929, M-44 was extended east from Orleans to junction with M-43, once again, causing M-86 to be supplanted and removed from the highway system. Current designation By the end of 1927, the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) had designated a highway numbered M-7 between Three Rivers and Centreville. This highway was extended east by the middle of 1936. The route connected US 131 in downtown Three Rivers to US 112 outside Coldwater. At the time of the extension, all of M-7 was a gravel road. Later that year, the original segment between Three Rivers and Colon was paved, and the state extended the hard-surface route as far as Nottawa in 1937. In 1940, at the same time all single-digit highway numbers were renumbered in the state, the M-86 designation replaced M-7. This incarnation of M-86 followed its present-day routing. Near Nottawa, M-86 ran concurrently with the contemporary M-78 north and east to Colon. In late 1948 or early 1949, the last section of highway was paved in Branch County, hard-surfacing all of M-86 for the first time. A change related to M-66 and M-78 altered M-86 in 1965. South of Battle Creek, M-66 replaced M-78. Rather than follow M-78 between Colon and Athens, M-66 used a different series of roads. The net result was that along M-86, the M-78 concurrency was replaced by a shorter M-66 concurrency. The routing has remain unchanged since. Historic bridges M-86 currently uses one bridge eligible for listing on the NRHP. The span over the St. Joseph River in Three Rivers was built