At the turn of the twentieth century, deep ruts and sand made West Michigan roads nearly impassable. In 1911, the West Michigan Lakeshore Highway Association was founded to promote construction of the first improved highway along Lake Michigan, intended to bring auto tourists from Chicago to Michigan and support the new resort industry that developed after logging ended in the region. Completed in 1922, the West Michigan Pike extended from the Indiana state line to Mackinaw City. It became one of the first state trunk lines as M-11 in 1917, part of the Dixie Highway in 1923, and part of the nation's first federal highway system as US-31 in 1926. Advertised as "Lake Shore All the Way Chicago to Mackinaw," the paved highway gave tourists, especially Chicagoans seeking cooler temperatures, greater access to communities along the Lake Michigan shore between the Indiana state line and the Straits of Mackinac. As traffic congestion and poor road conditions again impeded travel, the West Michigan Pike Association advocated in 1929 for US-31 to be widened and rerouted as a superhighway. Straightened and realigned over the years, and also known as the Red Arrow and the Blue Star Memorial Highways, the route fostered a tourism industry of lodging, restaurants, and attractions that flourished into the twenty-first century.