U.S. Route 16 in Michigan
| ||||
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Length | 210.643 mi[1] (338.997 km) | |||
Existed | November 11, 1926[2]–1962[3][4] | |||
History | Replaced by I-96 | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | Car ferry docks in Muskegon | |||
East end | US 10 / US 12 / US 25 in Detroit | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Michigan | |||
Counties | Muskegon, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton, Ingham, Livingston, Oakland, Wayne | |||
Highway system | ||||
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US Highway 16 (US 16), also called Grand River Avenue for much of its length in the state, was one of the principal roads prior to the post-World War II construction of
The original pathway along the Grand River Avenue corridor was an
Route description
At the time of its decommissioning, US 16 started its run through Michigan at the
As the freeway approached Kent County, it met the western terminus of M-11 which was the former routing of US 16 through the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. I-196/US 16 continued eastward around the north side of the metropolitan area through the suburbs of Walker and Comstock Park. The freeway intersected the contemporaneous routing of US 131 along the East Beltline and curved south through the eastern edge of Grand Rapids to meet the end of I-96 east of downtown. There I-196 ended and US 16 was transferred to the I-96 freeway. I-96/US 16 continued southward intersecting Cascade Road, which was previously US 16. Cascade Road east of this interchange meets the westernmost part of Grand River Avenue, which carried US 16 east continuously to Downtown Detroit.[3][a]
Grand River Avenue crosses to the east into Livingston County through Fowlerville to Howell. In Howell, Grand River Avenue meets Hartland Road which carries M-59; the highway also met M-155 in downtown, which at the time provided access to the Howell State Hospital. In the approach to Brighton, Grand River Avenue passes through rural southeast Michigan lake country. In Brighton, Grand River Avenue crossed the western end of the I-96 freeway. US 16 merged onto the freeway, and I-96/US 16 met the northern end of the US 23 freeway. I-96/US 16 continued east into Oakland County through Wixom and Novi.[3]
Near
History
The history of Grand River Avenue, and US 16 in Michigan, dates back to before the earliest settlement of Michigan by Europeans. The route has been the basis for an Indian trail, a pathway for European settlers, a
Indian trail to state highway
Location | Muskegon–Detroit |
---|---|
Existed | c. July 1, 1919[8]–November 11, 1926[9] |
The chief transportation routes in 1701 were the Indian footpaths that crossed the future state of Michigan; the Grand River Trail was one of these thirteen trails at the time. In 1805, Detroit created 120-foot (37 m) rights-of-way for the principal streets of the city, Grand River Avenue included.[10] This street plan was devised by Augustus Woodward and others following a devastating fire in Detroit.[11] A ten-year project to construct a plank road between Detroit and Howell was authorized in 1820 along the Grand River Trail.[10] Grand River Avenue was included as one of Five Great Military Roads by Governor Lewis Cass in 1825, along with the River Road, Michigan Avenue, Woodward Avenue and Gratiot Avenue.[12] The Grand River Road, precursor to the modern Grand River Avenue was named by Benjamin Williams, cofounder of Owosso.[13] The original Native American name for the river was Wash-ten-ong sibi meaning "the river that extends far off", or "far into the interior", which was translated as La Grande Riviere, the French name for the river; this name was then applied to the name of the trail that paralleled at least half of the river's length.[14]
The opening of the
Congress further aided the road in 1835 with an appropriation of $25,000 (equivalent to $780,000 in 2023[21]) for a 20-foot-wide (6 m) road on 100 feet (30 m) of right-of-way.[22] These improvements included removing brush and debris and the construction of bridges across the Rouge, Shiawassee, Red Cedar and Grand rivers.[23] The Grand River Road was a major route for settlers headed inland to Grand Rapids in 1836, as the shortest route for travelers coming from Detroit.[24] An economic panic in 1837 drove settlers from New York to Michigan; these were the travelers who followed the Grand River Road. New settlements were created along the route, every six miles (9.7 km) or so, that distance being a good day's travel by horse. Approximately 120 wagons left Detroit each day between August and November 1843.[25]
After statehood in 1837, Michigan assumed the costs for construction work to the Grand River Trail. At that time, about 60 miles (97 km) had been surveyed from Detroit westward. The new state lacked the money to continue improvements to the road, and Michigan petitioned Congress for the better part of the next decade for money to complete the work.
By 1900, only a short stretch of the Detroit–Howell Plank Road was still made of planks; most of the other plank roads had been converted to gravel by this time.
The M-16 designation lasted for seven years. As the states were meeting with the
US Highway to Interstate
Location | Muskegon Heights–Nunica |
---|---|
Length | 11.94 mi[1] (19.22 km) |
Existed | 1934[35]–1940[36] |
In 1929, Allan Williams placed a picnic table on the side of the road along US 16 south of Saranac. Williams was the Ionia County engineer in charge of the various roads in the county, and that location is "what many consider to be the nation's first roadside table".[37][b] The first change to the US 16 routing was made in 1933 when the highway was moved to bypass Farmington, with the old routing retained as a state highway.[39][40] The next year, in 1934, M-126 was created between Nunica and Muskegon.[35] In 1940, US 16 was rerouted to replace M-126, and the former route of US 16 between Nunica and Grand Haven was redesignated M-104.[36] Two further changes during 1941–42 rerouted the western end in Muskegon to end at the car ferry docks. Previously, motorists had to navigate from the western end along other roads to the ferry connection to the rest of US 16 in Wisconsin. The second change routed Bypass US 16 (Byp. US 16) along 28th Street and Wilson (previously the South Beltline and West Beltline sections of M-114) in the Grand Rapids area.[41] The US 16 designation was moved in 1953 to replace Byp. US 16 while the former routing through downtown Grand Rapids was redesignated Business US 16 (Bus. US 16).[42][43]
MSHD had plans to upgrade the US 16 corridor to freeway standards in the middle of the 20th century. The first planning map in 1947 for what later became the Interstate Highway System showed a highway in the corridor.[44] The General Location of National System of Interstate Highways Including All Additional Routes at Urban Areas Designated in September 1955, showed generalized plans for the locations of Interstate Highways as designated in 1955. This also included a highway in the US 16 corridor.[45] The 1957 approval for the Interstate Highway System replaced the Grand Rapids–Detroit section of US 16 with a portion of Interstate 94 (I-94), with the remainder to be I-94N.[46] MSHD submitted a recommended numbering plan for the Interstates in 1958 that showed I-96 following the US 16 corridor.[47] When initially approved, the Muskegon–Grand Rapids segment of US 16 was to be numbered as I-196 while the remainder was part of I-96.[48]
Segments of the road were upgraded in 1956 between Coopersville and Marne, Portland and Eagle, and Brighton and Farmington.[49] By 1962, freeway construction allowed motorists to travel between Muskegon and the Lansing area on a freeway, bypassing the old Grand River Avenue route.[3] The final connection between Lansing and Brighton was completed in late 1962. At that time, the US 16 designation, which had been applied alongside the I-96 and I-196 designations, was decommissioned. Segments of the old highway were retained in the state highway system under different numbers. Sections through Portland, Lansing, Howell, Farmington and Detroit were given Business Loop (BL) or Business Spur (BS) I-96 designations. The section between Lansing and Webberville became part of an extended M-43.[3][4] Other sections in the Detroit area became parts of M-102, M-5, or unsigned state highway.[50][51]
Post-Interstate era
External image | |
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Old Plank Road demolition, facing west in East Lansing near Bailey Street in early 1996 |
After US 16 was transferred to the new freeway, Grand River Avenue lost its state highway status along most of its length. Today the roadway remains the "Main Street" of over a dozen Michigan cities and a scenic route through one of the state's most populated corridors. In 1995, major reconstruction work along Grand River Avenue in East Lansing uncovered rotting logs, buried about 2 feet (0.61 m) below the present grade, that had been used as underlayment for the plank road surface in a low, swampy area. The logs had been in place for nearly 150 years.[52] In 2004, the state transferred several blocks at the eastern end of Grand River Avenue to the City of Detroit. State trunkline control now ends at the corner of Grand River Avenue, Middle Street, and Cass Avenue.[53][54]
Community leaders in Lansing have proposed renaming a section of Grand River Avenue in Old Town Lansing for
Memorial highway designations
Born in Grand Rapids in 1884,
Vandenberg was not the only national figure honored with a memorial designation along the route of US 16 in Michigan. For a period from the 1930s through the 1950s, the highway used a few blocks of Washington Boulevard to connect between Grand River and Michigan avenues on its route through Detroit to its terminus at
Major intersections
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US 16 in Wisconsin ; western terminus of M-46 | |||||
1.100 | 1.770 | Bus. US 31 north / M-46 east (Peck Street) | Northern end of Bus. US 31 concurrency; eastern end of M-46 concurrency | ||
Bus. US 31 north (Airline Highway) | Western end of I-196 concurrency; southern end of Bus. US 31 concurrency | ||||
Ottawa | Nunica | 15.452 | 24.868 | M-104 west – Grand Haven | Eastern terminus of M-104 |
Bus. US 16 east / M-11 east (Remembrance Road) – Grand Rapids | Western terminus of M-11 | ||||
Kent | Walker | 36.455 | 58.669 | M-37 north (Alpine Avenue) – Traverse City | Western end of M-37 concurrency |
Bus. US 131 (Plainfield Avenue) | |||||
43.233 | 69.577 | I-196 west I-96 east | Eastern end of I-196 concurrency; western end of I-96 concurrency | ||
43.961 | 70.748 | US 131 / M-37 south (East Beltline Avenue) – Cadillac, Kalamazoo, Hastings | Eastern end of M-37 concurrency | ||
Grand Rapids Township | 44.897 | 72.255 | M-21 (Fulton Street) – Holland, Flint | ||
46.174 | 74.310 | Bus. US 16 west / M-50 west (Cascade Road) – Grand Rapids | Western end of M-50 concurrency | ||
Cascade Township | 49.146 | 79.093 | M-11 west (28th Street) | Eastern terminus of M-11 | |
Lowell Township | 58.463 | 94.087 | M-50 east / M-91 north – Jackson, Greenville | Eastern end of M-50 concurrency; southern terminus of M-91 | |
Ionia | Berlin Township | 73.587 | 118.427 | M-66 – Ionia, Battle Creek | |
Clinton | Eagle Township | 92.578 | 148.990 | I-96 west M-100 – Grand Ledge | I-96 temporarily ended here; US 16 follows Grand River Avenue east |
Ingham | Lansing | 101.738 | 163.731 | M-174 north (Logan Street) | |
103.103 | 165.928 | US 27 (Larch Street) – Clare | Northern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
103.630 | 166.776 | M-43 west / M-78 (Saginaw Street) – Hastings US 27 south (Larch Street) | Eastern terminus of M-43; southern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
Leroy Township | 121.099 | 194.890 | M-47 north | Southern terminus of M-47 | |
Livingston | Howell | 157.476 | 253.433 | M-59 east – Pontiac | Western terminus of M-59 |
160.154 | 257.743 | M-155 west | Eastern terminus of M-155 | ||
Brighton | 168.676 | 271.458 | I-96 east | Western end of I-96 freeway concurrency | |
Brighton Township | 171.212 | 275.539 | US 23 – Flint, Ann Arbor | ||
West Novi | 182.782 | 294.159 | M-218 east (Wixom Road) – Pontiac | Western terminus of M-218 | |
BL I-96 east | |||||
193.314 | 311.109 | BL I-96 west | Eastern end of I-96 freeway concurrency | ||
Oakland–Wayne county line | Farmington Township–Livonia city line | 194.590 | 313.162 | M-102 east (8 Mile Road) | 8 Mile Road is the county and city line; western terminus of M-102 |
Detroit | 197.135 | 317.258 | US 24 (Telegraph Road) – Toledo | ||
200.584 | 322.809 | M-39 (Southfield Road) | |||
204.499 | 329.109 | M-14 west (Plymouth Road) – Ann Arbor | Eastern terminus of M-14 | ||
207.727 | 334.304 | I-94 (Edsel Ford Freeway) | |||
209.431 | 337.047 | John C. Lodge Freeway ) | |||
210.643 | 338.997 | US 10 west (Woodward Avenue) – Pontiac
| Cadillac Square served as the common terminus for US 10, US 12 and US 16 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
Related trunklines
Grand Rapids bypass
Location | Grand Rapids |
---|---|
Length | 20.197 mi[1] (32.504 km) |
Existed | 1942[41]–1953[42][43] |
Bypass US Highway 16 (Byp. US 16) was a
Grand Rapids business loop
Location | Grand Rapids |
---|---|
Length | 17.102 mi[1] (27.523 km) |
Existed | 1953[42][43]–1962[3][65] |
Business US Highway 16 (Bus. US 16) was a business route in the Grand Rapids area in the 1950s and 1960s. When US 16 was rerouted to replace Byp. US 16 around the southern and western sides of the city in 1953, the former route of the mainline through downtown was redesignated as the business loop.[42][43] That loop followed Remembrance Avenue southeasterly to Leonard Avenue in Walker Township. From there, the loop turned easterly on Leonard over the Grand River to Monroe Avenue before turning south parallel to the river along Monroe into downtown. In downtown Grand Rapids, Bus. US 16 turned eastward on Fulton Avenue into East Grand Rapids. There the loop followed Cascade Road into Cascade Township where it reconnected to US 16 at the intersection with 28th Street. Bus. US 16 lasted until 1962 when US 16 was decommissioned in Michigan.[3][4]
Farmington alternate route
Location | Farmington |
---|---|
Length | 3.863 mi[1] (6.217 km) |
Existed | 1933[39][40]–1956[49][66] |
US Highway 16A (US 16A) was an alternate route for US 16 that bypassed Farmington. It was designated in 1933[40] for a new highway that bypassed downtown along what is now Freedom Road.[67] In 1956, the designation was decommissioned when mainline US 16 was rerouted out of downtown Farmington, replacing US 16A. At the same time, the former route of the mainline through downtown was redesignated Bus. US 16.[49][66]
Farmington business loop
Location | Farmington |
---|---|
Length | 4.129 mi[1] (6.645 km) |
Existed | 1956[49][66]–1961[3][68] |
Business US Highway 16 (Bus. US 16) was a business loop through downtown
See also
- Michigan Highways portal
Notes
- Ada and Plainfield Township along the Grand River. The western end is at East Beltline, short of its westernmost extent in Grand Rapids.[7]
- ^ Other sources state that the first roadside park in the United States was created by Herbert Larson along what is now US 2 near Iron River in 1919–20.[38]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^ OCLC 63377558.
- ^ . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- ^ OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- OCLC 13440201. Retrieved April 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- OCLC 9975013.
- ^ City of Lansing (n.d.). "Lansing History". City of Lansing. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ OCLC 15607244. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- ^ .
- ^ OCLC 435640179.
- ^ Baulch, Vivian M. (June 13, 1999). "Woodward Avenue, Detroit's Grand Old 'Main Street'". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ Wayne County Department of Public Services (n.d.). "History: The River Road". Detroit: Wayne County Department of Public Services. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- OCLC 433271.
- OCLC 681735082.
- ^ Woodard (1966), p. 6.
- ^ Woodard (1966), pp. 8–10.
- ^ Woodard (1966), pp. 10–11.
- ^ Woodard (1966), pp. 11–12.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Woodard (1966), p. 13.
- Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ Lingeman (2001), p. 2.
- ^ Woodard (1966), p. 28.
- OCLC 13781280.
- ^ a b Woodard (1966), pp. 24–29.
- ^ OCLC 57425393.
- ^ Michigan Legislature (March 20, 1850). "An Act to Incorporate the Lansing and Howell Plank Road Company". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 10, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- OCLC 605707523.
- OCLC 23314983.
- OCLC 44724558. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
- OCLC 9975013.
- ^ Michigan State Highway Department (September 1, 1925). Official Highway Condition Map (Map). [c. 1:823,680]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2016 – via Archives of Michigan.
- ^ Barnett (2004), p. 94.
- .
- ^ OCLC 12701143.
- ^ OCLC 12701143.
- from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- OCLC 9729223.
- ^ OCLC 12701053. Archived from the originalon May 10, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2016 – via Archives of Michigan.
- ^ OCLC 12701053.
- ^ OCLC 12701143.
- ^ OCLC 12701120.
- ^ OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- .
- OCLC 416597– via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Public Roads Administration (August 14, 1957). Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Public Roads Administration. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
- ^ Michigan State Highway Department (April 25, 1958). Recommended Interstate Route Numbering for Michigan (Report). Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Archived from the original on August 5, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
- OCLC 3280344. Retrieved September 4, 2010 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- OCLC 42778335. Archived from the originalon August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan.
- OCLC 261183721.
- ^ Michigan Historical Museum (n.d.). "An Old Plank Road in East Lansing ..." Settling a State. Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
- ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2004). Truck Operator's Map (Map). c. 1:221,760. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Detroit and Vicinity inset.
- ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2005). Truck Operator's Map (Map). c. 1:221,760. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Detroit and Vicinity inset.
- OCLC 48427464. Archived from the originalon July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- OCLC 48427464. Archived from the originalon November 9, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- ^ a b Pohl, Scott (June 15, 2010). "Effort to Rename Grand River Avenue in Old Town Lansing Meeting with Resistance". Lansing, Michigan: WKAR-AM. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- WLNS-TV.
- ^ Barnett (2004), pp. 25–26.
- ^ Barnett (2004), p. 235.
- .
- OCLC 12701143.
- OCLC 12701120.
- OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
- ^ OCLC 12701120.
- ^ Google (January 16, 2016). "Overview Map of Former US 16A in Farmington" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
- ^ . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1961)
- .
Further reading
- Milan, Jon & Offen, Gail (2014). Grand River Avenue: From Detroit to Lake Michigan. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. OCLC 882189548.
External links
- Historic US 16 at Michigan Highways
- Historic US 16 Timeline at Michigan Highways
- Former M-126 at Michigan Highways
- Former BS I-96 at Michigan Highways
- Unsigned Old BS I-96 at Michigan Highways
- The Old Plank Road at A Brief History of East Lansing, Michigan