In 1953, the route was realigned onto the south and west beltline to bypass Grand Rapids; the old routing through downtown became Business M-50 (Bus. M-50). In the late 1950s, when the US 127 freeway bypass east of Jackson opened up, the old routing through town became Bus. US 127/M-50. At the same time, the concurrency with US 23 between Dundee and the Ida area was dropped after the new US 23 freeway opened; the old route becomes solely designated M-50.