Interstate 275 (Michigan)

Planning map for the Detroit area freeways from 1955

A north–south freeway was originally planned as an Interstate Highway allowing through traffic to bypass the city of Detroit. This plan was included in the 1955 General Location of National System of Interstate Highways (Yellow Book), an early proposal for what would become the Interstate Highway System. The Yellow Book contained an inset of the proposed freeways in and around the Detroit area including a north–south freeway east of the current I-275 corridor.[12] The 1958 numbering plan for Michigan submitted by the State Highway Department had this route initially marked as I-73.[13] William Swanson in the MDOT Highway Planning Unit later stated that the department also planned to reverse the numbering of I-75 and I-275 between Newport and Davisburg; I-75 would have bypassed downtown Detroit just as it bypassed downtown Flint and downtown Saginaw to the north, and the auxiliary number (I-275) would have been used on the freeway through downtown Detroit.[14]

The present-day freeway was built in stages in the mid-1970s. In 1974, the state highway map of the time showed the highway under construction, but no parts completed.[15] The first four miles (6.4 km) of the freeway were shown opened to traffic from M-153 (Ford Road) in Canton to Schoolcraft Avenue (just south of the I-96 and M-14 interchange) in Plymouth Township by the start of 1975. The segment between US 24 and I-75 in Monroe County was open as well.[16] The second phase was completed in the latter half of 1976, when I-275 was extended north from Schoolcraft Avenue (and the incomplete interchange with the future route of I-96) to the I-96/I-696 interchange in Novi. Then on January 14, 1977, the remaining 23-mile (37 km) section of I-275 between US 24 in Monroe County and M-153 in Canton Township was opened to traffic, completing the current freeway.[3] The final cost to build the I-275 freeway was $145 million (equivalent to $487 million in 2019[17]).[14]

The Michigan State Highway Commission canceled the northern section of the highway, originally planned to continue northward from Novi to a point near Davisburg and Clarkston, on January 26, 1977, after it spent $1.6 million (equivalent to $5.71 million in 2019[17]) the year before purchasing land for the roadway.[9] This northern section was not planned as an Interstate Highway at that time, bearing the designation M-275 instead. Opposition to construction came from various citizens' groups and different levels of local government. Additionally, both The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press opposed the project. The Detroit City Council, led by then-Chairman Carl Levin, opposed the plan. Levin said at the time, "At last I think people are waking up to the dangers of more and more expressways. At some point we've got to say enough. And I think we've reached it."[9] The US Department of the Interior reviewed the state's environmental impact study of the project and stated that the project, "will cause irreparable damages on recreation lands, wetlands, surface waters and wildlife habitat".[9] The total project to link Farmington Hills with Davisburg with the 24-mile (39 km) extension would have cost $69.5 million (equivalent to $233 million in 2019[17]) and saved drivers an estimated eight minutes off travel time around the city of Detroit.[9]

The Jeffries Freeway project was in its final stages of construction in 1977, linking the final 10.5 miles (16.9 km) of I-96 at M-39 (Southfield Freeway) with the I-275 freeway.[3] After it was completed, I-96 was routed to run concurrently with I-275 between Novi and Plymouth Township,[18] and the segments of freeway through Farmington and Farmington Hills that were to be part of I-96[12] instead became part of an extended M-102.[18]

At the end of the 1970s, MDOT took part in a FHWA-backed initiative called the Positive Guidance Demonstration Project, and the two agencies audited signage practices in the vicinity of the I-96/M-37 and I-296/US 131 interchange in Walker near Grand Rapids. MDOT determined that usage of the I-296 designation overlapping US 131 was "a potential source of confusion for motorists".[19] FHWA agreed with the department's proposal to eliminate all signage and public map references to the designation in April 1979.[19] MDOT then received formal permission from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on October 13,[20] and from the FHWA on December 3, 1979, to remove the redundant highway designation from signage and most maps.[21]

Following this program, the Reflective Systems Unit at MDOT reviewed the state of two- and three-way concurrencies along the highway system in Michigan. They approached the department's Trunkline Numbering Committee and the district traffic and safety engineers on October 19, 1982, for proposals to reduce or eliminate the various overlapping designations to "avoid driver confusion and save funds".[22] Included on the initial discussion report was the I-96/I-275 concurrency with a request for comments by November 5 of that year.[22] When the unit released its final recommendations on March 17, 1983, no changes were proposed regarding the I-96/I-275 concurrency. Other recommendations, such as removing US 2 and US 10 from overlaps with I-75[23] were implemented in later in 1983[24] and in 1985,[25] respectively.

At least one transportation study in the early 1970s identified the highway north of Novi as M-275.[26] The Oakland County Road Commission, local land developers, and local politicians supported building a highway along the route of M-275 to open up the area for development.[28] After the January 1977 cancelation of M-275 as a full freeway, the state explored building the highway as a parkway instead.[29] This parkway concept allowed at-grade intersections that would have not been permitted had the highway been built as a full freeway, and included more landscaping and less grade separation.[29] In September 1977, the State Transportation Commission ordered MDOT to study alternatives to a freeway in the area, along with the possible widening of I-94 and US 23 and the improvement of local roads to handle increased traffic caused by the absence of an extended I-275 from the state's freeway network.[30]

The canceled highway project was revisited by the State Transportation Commission in 1979 as M-275.[31] The renewed interest came after a vote of local residents showed a desire for the road.[32] The Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation backed the proposal with the support of local officials around the highway and the highway lobby. The 22-year-old proposal was deemed "necessary" by the department to alleviate highway congestion along other area highways. The Department of the Interior continued to oppose the highway on environmental grounds. M-275 would have cut through Dodge No. 4 State Park in Oakland County if completed. Another factor that helped sink the project was the rising costs. Estimates in 1979 placed a $100 million (equivalent to $290 million in 2019[17]) price tag on the project.[31]

Despite funding increases for MDOT by the State Legislature, M-275 languished on the drawing boards. New plans in 1983 had addressed several of the environmental concerns by moving interchanges and rerouting around wetlands. These plans even canceled an extension of Northwestern Highway (then M-4, now part of M-10) to Pontiac Trail and a connection with M-275. The state increased MDOT's budget by $602 million (equivalent to $1.33 billion in 2019[17]), but left the M-275 project off a priority list.[33] The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) continued to factor M-275 into regional transportation planning forecasts. SEMCOG's position was that the location population that would be served by the new highway would rival 70 of Michigan's counties combined, yet there was no four-lane highways through the area. Opponents cited urban sprawl, which SEMCOG dismissed because the population was already in the area of the new highway.[34] Transportation planners at an April 24, 1985, meeting of the West Bloomfield Republicans said that the highway extension "would make sense" but MDOT "is planning no new freeways and no major road construction" at the time. By the next month, MDOT had relinquished ownership of right-of-way in West Bloomfield Township, ending any further progress at building the roadway.[27] Studies comparing the levels of traffic at various checkpoints along the existing I-275 showed that the freeway was only handling half of its rated capacity. At 8 Mile Road, the freeway carried 57,000 vehicles in 1977 and 88,000 vehicles in 1984. This compared to a 1986 projection of 133,000 vehicles daily.[14]

After many years of inactivity, further work began along this same route to relieve traffic congestion in the area,[35] but the resulting highway was designated as a part of M-5 rather than I-275 or M-275. The first section of this freeway extension was opened in October 1994. This extended a freeway from I-275's previous terminus at I-96/I-696 north to 12 Mile Road.[36] A plan enacted by then Governor John Engler in 1995 angered road officials when funding was diverted from county road commissions to help complete state highway projects like the M-5 (Haggerty Connector) project.[37] In 1999, a second extension of M-5 was completed to 14 Mile Road, but only as an expressway.[38] The final two miles (3.2 km) between 14 Mile Road and Pontiac Trail opened to traffic on November 1, 2002.[39]

I-275 Metro Trail in Canton, December 2008

In the mid-1970s, MDOT constructed a bike trail parallel to I-275 in response to the energy crisis.[40] Since 2006, the Michigan Trails & Greenway Alliance and MDOT have been working to improve the bike trail.[40] At the time of the alliance's initial studies, the trail was overgrown with vegetation in locations.[41] Since a grand re-opening in 2011, the bike path has been called the I-275 Metro Trail.[42] In the middle of 2015, MDOT completed reconstruction of the bike trail,[43] resulting in a paved trail from a junction with the Downriver Linked Greenways East–West Trail near South Huron Road in Huron Township northward to 12 Mile Road in Novi.[44]