M-53 orphan freeway gap

[Stephane Dumas]

I wondered if there some long-term plans to link the orphaned freeway gap of M-53 with I-69 or M-59 http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.62676,-83.019304&spn=0.022198,0.054932&z=15  or if it was cancelled? (I doubt then the plans to extend the M-53 freeway south to I-696 could be revived)

[Hellfighter]

As far I know, MDOT's only plan on M-53 is to expand it between the Romeo Bypass and the Macomb/St. Clair county borders from a two lane highway to a 4 lane divided highway. Other than that, I have no idea if they'll touch M-59

[Stephane Dumas]

the M-53 freeway gap currently touch M-59 who's a divided highway on this location (the M-59 freeway just stop a bit shy west of M-53 as seen on satellite shots), trying to stretch the M-59 freeway to M-53 might correct this

[njroadhorse]

Hopefully they do, the gap just looks stupid IMO

[Terry Shea]

Hopefully they do, the gap just looks stupid IMO

Yeah, I remember when they were digging the trench to extend the M 59 freeway.  I thought they were going to extend the freeway clear to I-94.  What a stupid place to stop it!  It seems like more traffic gets backed up now than before, and it seems like a total waste to have extended the freeway at all if they were just going to leave it at that point, especially since the Silverdome is no longer in use.  I don't believe there are any plans to extend it further though.

[Hellfighter]

Hopefully they do, the gap just looks stupid IMO

Yeah, I remember when they were digging the trench to extend the M 59 freeway.  I thought they were going to extend the freeway clear to I-94.  What a stupid place to stop it!  It seems like more traffic gets backed up now than before, and it seems like a total waste to have extended the freeway at all if they were just going to leave it at that point, especially since the Silverdome is no longer in use.  I don't believe there are any plans to extend it further though.

I believe they wanted to extend the M-59 freeway through Downtown Pontiac, but it got caught in the freeway revolts of the 70's. As for the Macomb County Portion, they may just have to turn it into a freeway, with the amount of traffic that they have.

[Terry Shea]

Hopefully they do, the gap just looks stupid IMO

Yeah, I remember when they were digging the trench to extend the M 59 freeway.  I thought they were going to extend the freeway clear to I-94.  What a stupid place to stop it!  It seems like more traffic gets backed up now than before, and it seems like a total waste to have extended the freeway at all if they were just going to leave it at that point, especially since the Silverdome is no longer in use.  I don't believe there are any plans to extend it further though.

I believe they wanted to extend the M-59 freeway through Downtown Pontiac, but it got caught in the freeway revolts of the 70's. As for the Macomb County Portion, they may just have to turn it into a freeway, with the amount of traffic that they have.

Well it seems like that's what they should have done, but instead they simply upgraded M-59 to a divided highway from Utica to I-94, and spent a ton of money in doing so.  So I don't think they're about to go back and redo it, at least not in our lifetimes.

[Hellfighter]

Maybe MDOT should turn Mound Road into a freeway anyway.

[Terry Shea]

Maybe MDOT should turn Mound Road into a freeway anyway.

Well it would be nice if MDOT would complete all the freeways that were once planned, but it now appears that few if any freeways will ever be completed in Michigan.

[Hellfighter]

Wonder how Texas finishes all of theirs?

[Revive 755]

Wonder how Texas finishes all of theirs?

Actually, Texas has quite a few canceled ones.  See http://www.texasfreeway.com/.  Then there's probably a different political environment in Texas than in Michigan, plus Texas seems more willing to use tolls. 

Speaking of tolls, has Michigan ever considered using tolls to complete some of their projects, like a Jackson-Toledo (I-73) route?

[Hellfighter]

No, because unless it goes to another state, they don't see any usefulness for a toll road.

[Terry Shea]

Wonder how Texas finishes all of theirs?

Actually, Texas has quite a few canceled ones.  See http://www.texasfreeway.com/.  Then there's probably a different political environment in Texas than in Michigan, plus Texas seems more willing to use tolls. 

Speaking of tolls, has Michigan ever considered using tolls to complete some of their projects, like a Jackson-Toledo (I-73) route?

Personally I'd hate to see toll roads.  Then again I hate gas taxes, mileage taxes or any other tax for that matter.  It's not so much having to pay money every time you use the highway, it's the stopping at the toll booths which interrupts using the cruise control that bothers me the most.

I doubt Michigan will ever resort to using toll roads.  The Michigan economy relies heavily on out of state tourism during the summer months, so the thinking is that toll roads will discourage out of staters from coming here.  Of course pot hole filled roads aren't going to bring in any out of state business either.

And for all practical purposes, I-80/90 serve Michigan as a toll road.  The Indiana toll Road hugs the Michigan border so much that it comes within about 1/4 mile of the border in a few spots, so it really doesn't make much difference which state it actually lies in.  That being said, I have never personally driven on The Indiana Toll Road and I haven't used the Ohio Turnpike in probably 25 years.

[Stephane Dumas]

No, because unless it goes to another state, they don't see any usefulness for a toll road.

Not exactly true, before the Interstate act of 1956, Michigan studied the possibility of building toll roads according to this map from the late Mike Natale's toll roads site stored at the internet archive  http://web.archive.org/web/20010210013003/www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~mn2n/tollun.html  one tollway from the OH border to Bay City and another one from Detroit to "Michiana"

However, I wonder MIDOT could explore the possibility of ETL (Express Toll Lanes)?

[Hellfighter]

One thing I wish MDOT would do is remove the at-grade intersections at 30 Mile and 32 Mile Road. The Road is 70 Mph until about 300 ft, and then it slows down to 55 mph. And then right after you pass it, it goes back up to 70. How annoying!

[Terry Shea]

No, because unless it goes to another state, they don't see any usefulness for a toll road.

Not exactly true, before the Interstate act of 1956, Michigan studied the possibility of building toll roads according to this map from the late Mike Natale's toll roads site stored at the internet archive  http://web.archive.org/web/20010210013003/www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~mn2n/tollun.html  one tollway from the OH border to Bay City and another one from Detroit to "Michiana"

However, I wonder MIDOT could explore the possibility of ETL (Express Toll Lanes)?

Won't happen.  That would mean adding lanes and the state just doesn't have the money to do it...or anything else for that matter.  Well actually that's not quite true.  The Michigan legislature is very good at wasting money and not getting its priorities straight. 

[Terry Shea]

One thing I wish MDOT would do is remove the at-grade intersections at 30 Mile and 32 Mile Road. The Road is 70 Mph until about 300 ft, and then it slows down to 55 mph. And then right after you pass it, it goes back up to 70. How annoying!

Supposedly that's is in the works, but I've never understood why they do things that way.  I'd think that if they were going to upgrade a highway to freeway standards they'd do it sequentially instead of picking spots here and there to upgrade and making a mess out of the whole route.  Apparently Rand McNally doesn't know how to handle such a scenario either.  They get that section wrong in their atlas every year it seems.

[Hellfighter]

That would be cool, but there are some problems. First, in the 70's, the city of Detroit prohibited any further freeway building within city borders. Also, M-39 is not up to interstate standards, and can't expand to I-696 or I-75. That's also true for M-5, the locals sued MDOT when they tried to connect M-5 to M-59.