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Was Gratiot Road ever US 25?

Started by roadman65, December 14, 2021, 08:09:53 AM

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roadman65

Was wondering if M3 and M19 in the Detroit area ever been the historic alignment of US 25?

I would think it is, but what looks say don't always mean and the fact M3 is not assigned to the M19 part of Gratiot Road also raises the question as well.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe


Flint1979

#1
Quote from: roadman65 on December 14, 2021, 08:09:53 AM
Was wondering if M3 and M19 in the Detroit area ever been the historic alignment of US 25?

I would think it is, but what looks say don't always mean and the fact M3 is not assigned to the M19 part of Gratiot Road also raises the question as well.
Yes it was. M-19 was was extended south on Gratiot between Richmond and New Haven and then to I-94 when US-25 was shifted to the freeway. M-3 came into existence when US-25 was truncated at Cincinnati. Also M-85 which is Fort Street was also a part of US-25.

Ryctor2018

2DI's traveled: 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 35, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 49, 55, 57, 59, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 85, 87, 88, 90, 93, 94, 95, 96

jOnstar1979

I am always looking for pictures of Gratiot or I-94 in Macomb & St. Clair County in the late 60's early 70's showing US-25. I had a great screenshot from a video I found online, but my portable hard drive stopped working and I lost it. If I find it again... I will post it here. It was a shot of a US-25 overhead sign and next exit 5 miles when 94 was still being built.

CoolAngrybirdsrio4

Yes, indicating from the fact it ended at Port Austin at some point.
Renewed roadgeek

Henry

And, in addition, US 25 remained a surface road until its decommissioning, which is the complete opposite of how other US routes in the state were rerouted onto their Interstate equivalents. Only from Woodhaven to downtown Detroit and from Chesterfield Township to Port Huron did it ever follow a freeway alignment (totaling about 48 miles), which are today's I-75 and I-94.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

KCRoadFan

It makes sense that it would have been - looking on the map, you can see that Gratiot Road eventually links up to M-25 in Port Huron, and the source of that number seems rather obvious.

I suppose it follows, then, that US 25 used to end in Bay City, like M-25 does now. Is that right?

bulldog1979

Quote from: KCRoadFan on December 15, 2021, 10:00:28 PM
It makes sense that it would have been - looking on the map, you can see that Gratiot Road eventually links up to M-25 in Port Huron, and the source of that number seems rather obvious.

I suppose it follows, then, that US 25 used to end in Bay City, like M-25 does now. Is that right?

Nope, US 25 ended at Port Austin at its northernmost extent. The rest of the way to Bay City was M-25.

Michigan has had a tradition of a state highway continuation of US Highways. In 1926, M-24 and US 24 connected at Pontiac. At the same time, US 131 terminated outside Fife Lake, and M-131 continued northward through Petoskey. When US 25 was extended from Port Huron to Port Austin in 1933 over part of M-29, the rest of M-29 to Bay City was redesignated M-25.

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

23skidoo

Quote from: NE2 on December 17, 2021, 12:51:21 PM
Grayshit?

GRASH-it, rhymes with "crash it". As many an east side father warned his son when he took the family car to go "cruising": Don't crash it on Gratiot!

Henry

Quote from: 23skidoo on December 17, 2021, 01:02:40 PM
Quote from: NE2 on December 17, 2021, 12:51:21 PM
Grayshit?

GRASH-it, rhymes with "crash it". As many an east side father warned his son when he took the family car to go "cruising": Don't crash it on Gratiot!

I always thought it was either "gray-she-oh" or "grash-ee-oh", and also that the name was French, since I took it in high school. Detroit itself is a French word, and it is not pronounced the same way as the English version; instead, it's called "Day-traw", like the number 3 is trois ("traw").
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

7/8

Quote from: 23skidoo on December 17, 2021, 01:02:40 PM
Quote from: NE2 on December 17, 2021, 12:51:21 PM
Grayshit?

GRASH-it, rhymes with "crash it". As many an east side father warned his son when he took the family car to go "cruising": Don't crash it on Gratiot!

His joke might also be referencing the Michigan/US Great Lakes accent, where the short a sound (ex: "cat") sounds similar to the long a sound (ex: "say") of other accents. This a good read for those interested in phonetics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English#Northern_Cities_Vowel_Shift

GaryV

Yes, Michiganders fail miserably trying to pronounce French names.  One article I read a few years back noted that the local pronunciation of Gratiot couldn't even be printed in the newspaper.

(Not that some other areas are any better - Illinois certainly isn't pronounced the way the French would say it.)

We do a little closer when pronouncing German, e.g. Schoenherr.

skluth

There's a street in St Louis also called Gratiot. Locals call it Gray'-show, though they butcher many other French names like Gravois (last syllable rhymes with boys) and Cuivre (pronounced quiver). They're equal opportunity pronunciation butchers though as Goethe (named after the German author) is pronounced go-thee (soft th).

Flint1979

Quote from: skluth on December 17, 2021, 04:29:03 PM
There's a street in St Louis also called Gratiot. Locals call it Gray'-show, though they butcher many other French names like Gravois (last syllable rhymes with boys) and Cuivre (pronounced quiver). They're equal opportunity pronunciation butchers though as Goethe (named after the German author) is pronounced go-thee (soft th).
Well in Michigan, Gratiot is pronounced Gra-shit.

tchafe1978

There is a small town in Southern Wisconsin in Lafayette Countt spelled and said the same way. Methinks it's the French who were wrong all along here, with their fancy-schmancy pronounciations.

Flint1979

Quote from: tchafe1978 on December 20, 2021, 01:34:58 PM
There is a small town in Southern Wisconsin in Lafayette Countt spelled and said the same way. Methinks it's the French who were wrong all along here, with their fancy-schmancy pronounciations.
I went through there earlier in the year when I was county clinching the rest of NW Illinois and Southern Wisconsin.

jOnstar1979



Found this one doing a search in google.

Flint1979

Quote from: jOnstar1979 on February 05, 2022, 11:49:29 PM


Found this one doing a search in google.
I remember when they had the freeway names on the signs. I wish they still did.

cwf1701

here's one of Gratiot as US-25. sorry about the writing, this was someone's high school yearbook (from East Detroit High School): https://archive.org/details/eastdetroiter1964/page/n3/mode/2up

bessertc

Quote
I remember when they had the freeway names on the signs. I wish they still did.

Interestingly, here in the Grand Rapids area, they still do (courtesy GSV):


Drive right. Pass Left. Please!



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