James A. Surrell, M.D.

One of the most significant contributions ever made to automobile travel safety was made right here in our great Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am sure that many of you know that Mr. Kenneth I. Sawyer (most often referred to as K. I. Sawyer) was the first person in the United States to authorize and put a center line down the middle of a road used by automobiles. This plan was first put into place in 1917 on the road between Marquette and Negaunee. Everyone traveling on that road had to then stay on their right side of the center line of that road.

This road between Marquette and Negaunee was first known as Michigan Highway 15, was later called U.S. 41, and is known today as County Road 492. Several miles west of Marquette there was a sharp curve. There was an increasing volume of traffic during World War I, with more and more cars traveling on this road. Unfortunately, there was also a large increase in the number of traffic fatalities at this sharp and dangerous curve. Because of the numerous fatalities, it then became known as “Deadman’s Curve”. This certainly had to be a matter of grave concern to the Marquette County Road Commission.

Fortunately, they came up with a plan to address this very serious automobile safety problem. Mr. K. I. Sawyer decided to act upon a profound suggestion from his road commission foreman, Mr. William S. Skewis. For the first time in United States history, Mr. Sawyer directed the Marquette County Road Commission to paint a bright stripe down the center line on this Marquette to Negaunee highway to make drivers stay in their own right hand lane. This was first done in 1917 and in 1918 the Marquette Road Commission adopted the practice of painting center lines elsewhere in the County. Of course, since that time, the painted center line has been adopted worldwide to guide drivers to keep in their own lane. Without question, this painted center line concept has certainly prevented millions of automobile traffic fatalities.

Mr. K. I. Sawyer is also credited with many other important innovations in highway systems planning and construction programming. K. I. Sawyer was a founder and long-time secretary treasurer for the County Road Association of Michigan, and served for 8 years as president of the Michigan Upper Peninsula Road Builders Association.

Further, Mr. Kenneth I. Sawyer has been recognized in the Michigan Highways Hall of Honor in 1973 for this and other significant highway contributions during his tenure of 1916 to 1944. After his death the County Board named the Marquette County Airport in his honor. This airport later became the K. I. Sawyer United States Air Force Base. With the eventual closure of the Air Force base, this site remained as our Marquette Airport, and today it still appropriately bears his name. The official airport name is now the Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport. 

This Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport is a frequently used regional airport. The airport statistics for the year of 2024 are reported as follows. The total number of passengers at this airport in 2024 was 88,360, with 44,370 of these being departing passengers. This volume is due to a total number of scheduled flights in the year 2024 reported to be 1,155.