The AARoads Blog

Began the day on former U.S. 25 (Electric Avenue / Military Street) in Port Huron. U.S. 25 was decommissioned in Michigan in 1973, leaving former stretches of the road as M-125 (Ohio to just north of Monroe), M-3 (Downtown Detroit to Chesterfield Township), Business Loop I-94 (through Port Huron), and M-25 (north of Port Huron) along with portions of U.S. 24, I-75 and I-94. This view looks at a reassurance shield assembly at Marysville, a town bordering Port Huron.

Interstate 69 and 94 combine at Port Huron for a combined routing to the Bluewater Bridge to Sarnia, Ontaro. Like, I-94, Interstate 69 sees a business loop of its own. Following an expressway to the one-way street couplet of Oak / Griswold Streets, the loop begins via a partial “Y” interchange from where I-94 and 96 combine to a merge with Business Loop I-94 at Main Street. The two continue north to end at I-69/94 by the bridge to Canada. BL-69 in Port Huron follows old M-21 (truncated to Flint by 1985).

Business Loop I-69 defaults onto Interstate 69 west from Griswold Street. A reassurance shield follows the transition from arterial to freeway, but before the ramp onto Interstate 94 to Detroit.

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All of day 3 focuses on southern Michigan Interstates. Commenced the day in Coldwater and headed north to Lansing, then west to Grand Rapids and the St. Joseph area and east to Detroit and Port Huron. Very clear and cool day, highs in the low 50s with some northwesterly winds.

All Interstate 69 shields posted on guide signs within Branch County, Michigan utilize Clearview-based font for the numbers. This is not supposed to be the case, but in Michigan, one can find shields for Interstates 69, 75, 96 and 696 in violation. This view looks at the southbound on-ramp to Interstate 69 from U.S. 12 west & Business Loop Interstate 69 south at Coldwater.

Business Loop Interstate 69 through Coldwater doubles as Emergency Interstate 69. There are a number of Emergency detour routes posted for Interstate highways throughout southern Michigan. Some of these even extend into Indiana, such as Interstate 69 south from Branch County to Steuben County, Indiana. The Emergency Routes provide an alternate or detour route for the parent route in case of road closure due to weather or other incidents. The Coldwater element of Emergency Interstate 69 includes an east-west portion along U.S. 12 between Division Street south / Marshall Street north (collectively former U.S. 27) and Interstate 69, and a north-south portion following old U.S. 27 out from town.

All of U.S. 27 between Fort Wayne, Indiana and Lansing, Michigan was replaced by Interstate 69. The old alignment remains in use as “Angola Road, “Lansing Road”, “Old 27″, etc. A portion of the old US Route remains in the state system as M-223 (17 Mile Road) from F Drive South to Michigan Avenue in Marshall. Michigan 227 begins at Exit 32 of Interstate 69 and travels 6.71 miles to Business Loop Interstate 94.

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Day 4 – Detroit to Cincinnati

Met up with fellow road enthusiast Dan Garnell the night before and discussed various topics around Michigan and the Great Lakes. One such item was the tanker fire that destroyed the 9 Mile Road overpass along Interstate 75. Dan told us that the damaged bridge was removed but little progress was made since the demolition on its replacement. The topic is discussed on the AARoads Forum.

The original Nine Mile Road bridge was rebuilt in 2008. Visible work on Interstate 75 at the overpass involves building new bridge supports.

A number of older state-named signs are still placed along the various freeway frontage roads in Detroit. The dated signs are not as prevalent as you would think, especially considering the derelict nature of the many surrounding neighborhoods in the city.

U.S. 12 represents the long survivor of five U.S. highways that once traveled through downtown Detroit. The highway follows Michigan Avenue eastward from Dearborn to its current end at Cass Avenue within the central business district. Our investigation of the end however revealed remnant signage beyond the Cass Avenue intersection through to Griswold Street, three blocks to the east. No end sign is posted.

A final eastbound U.S. 12 reassurance marker resides along Michigan Avenue between Washington Boulevard and Shelby Streets. An additional shield assembly was posted one block further east, but it was missing its U.S. 12 marker. Both assemblies and a companion westbound placard are posted east of the 2005 truncated end at Cass Avenue.

Michigan 85 ends assembly posted at the intersection of Fort and Griswold Streets in downtown Detroit. M-85 constitutes a 22.15-mile route between Interstate 75 Exit 28 and central Detroit. M-85 overtook a portion of M-3 along Fort Street between Clark and Griswold Streets in 2001 when the city of Detroit assumed control of the former state routes in the Campus Martius area.

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Day 3 – Petoskey to Sault Ste. Marie to Detroit

Started the day on a frosty morning in Petoskey, traveling up U.S. 31 through resort towns by scenic lakes and hills to its end at Interstate 75. Stopped by Fort Michilimackinac State Historic Park in Mackinaw City to view the Mackinaw Bridge in 27 degree wind. The Mackinac Bridge, nicknamed the "Mighty Mac" or "Big Mac", spans the Straits of Mackinac between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. The Straits connects Lakes Michigan and Huron and separate the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of the state. Traveling a distance of 8,614 feet, the suspension bridge is the third longest in the world. Drivers travel the span for a total of five miles when incorporating its approaches.

The Mackinac Bridge opened on November 1, 1957 after three and a half years of construction to replace ferry services connecting U.S. 23 with U.S. 2 at St. Ignace. Towers of the signature span rise to a height of 554 feet and are sunk 210 feet into the submerged bedrock. Every Labor Day morning two lanes of the span are closed to vehicle traffic for the annual Bridge Walk.

Tolls are levied to cross the bridge in both directions at a rate of $3.00 per passenger vehicle. Speed limits are set at 45 for passenger cars and 20 mph for commercial trucks. There are no shoulders on the bridge and the inside lanes constitute an open steel grid to reduce both its load and improve its wind resistance.

Interstate 75 draws to a close at the customs station just north of the Exit 394 diamond interchange with Easterday Avenue in Sault Ste. Marie. The customs plaza lies at the foot of the tolled International Bridge leading north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Fees to cross the cantilever bridge are set at $2.50 per passenger vehicle.

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Day 2 – Seymour, Indiana to Petoskey, Michigan

Heading north from southern Indiana to the capital city, Interstate 65 continues with four lanes and loads of tractor trailers. The constant beating the pavement takes from the moving freight prompted officials to resurface the route from Whiteland to Greenwood in 2007 as part of the INDOT Major Moves initiative. Expansion of the road to six lanes does not occur until Exit 99.

Interstate 65′s diamond interchange with Indiana 46 was upgraded to a single point urban interchange. In addition to the ramp reconfiguration, decorative arches were added to the Interstate 65 bridges over the state road.

Once in the downtown Indianapolis area, Interstate 65 briefly joins with Interstate 70 on the east side of the central business district. This stretch was rehabilitated in 2003 as part of the “Hyperfix 65/70″ project by INDOT. 33 bridge decks and 35 lane miles of concrete were repaired to go along with capacity improvements as part of a $30-million project. This stretch opened in 1976.

Morning traffic slows toward the Exit 113 split-diamond interchange, the main access point into downtown Indianapolis from Interstate 65 north. Pictured here are stacked ramps built at the split with Interstate 70 over a ghost ramp that was intended to join the freeways with unconstructed Interstate 69.

Encircling the city is Interstate 465, Indianapolis’ beltway and a myriad of vastly unsigned overlaps. They include U.S. 31, 36, 40, 52, 421, and Indiana 37 & 67. Construction is underway on two projects involving the 53-mile loop. The first is emergency work to repair a bridge at the Interstate 69 interchange that was damaged when a propane truck exploded in late October. The freeway was briefly closed in both directions so crews could assess the damage and make emergency repairs. Work currently shifts the westbound direction above the I-69 southbound on-ramp as crews finish repairs.

Additional work along Interstate 465 was completed in 2008 involving pavement rehabilitation from Fall Creek to Interstate 74, joining other recently completed work focused on widening of Interstate 465 between the split with Interstate 74 west and 56th Street. The $74.8-million work included the upgrading of the 38th Street interchange. Construction on this stretch, one of the oldest of the beltway, was completed between 2007 and 2009.

Accelerate 465 entails Interstate 465 southward from Interstate 74 to Interstate 70 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. Upgrading of the freeway will result in 12 foot travel lanes, a 30 foot paved median with jersey barrier within a minimum 216 foot right of way. Interchange improvements are included. At Interstate 74 / Crawfordville Road (U.S. 136), new ramps will join U.S. 136 with both freeways (currently not a direct movement). High speed flyover ramps will be added to the interchange with Interstates 74 and 465 and eliminate some of the loop ramps and associated weaving traffic movements. Work also will upgrade interchanges with West 10th Street, U.S. 36 (Rockville Road), U.S. 40 (Washington Street), the Sam Jones Expressway, and Interstate 70. The Interstate 70 work will replace the eastbound to northbound loop ramp with a 40-mph design speed flyover.

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I’ve decided to go with this batch of wintry goodness: a November, 2008 trip to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

It was a dark and snowy night…

Don’t eat the orange snow. Distant municipal lights provide the mushroom-cloud effect. I took this picture by the side of US-45 in Michigan.

The US-41 bridge in Houghton, Michigan.

Oh, nothing to see here, just the last embossed cutout US shield in the wild. Both that and the M-203 date back to the 1930s, and have definitely been repainted several times.

The oldest shield in Wisconsin, complete with old-style CITY banner. This one, and one just like it further down the same road, date back to about 1958.

Sunrise on the third day, along US-51 in Wisconsin.

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