INTERSTATE 275 (MICHIGAN)

'Interstate 275' (abbreviated 'I-275') in the U.S. state of Michigan is a western bypass of the Detroit metropolitan area. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the length is 29.97 miles while the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports the length as 35.01 miles. This discrepancy is due to a disagreement over the northern terminus.
According to the FHWA, I-275 ends at the junction with I-96/M-14 along the boundary between Livonia and Plymouth Township. MDOT considers I-275 to extend north overlapping with I-96 to the junction with I-696 and M-5 along the boundary between Farmington Hills, Michigan and Novi, Michigan. Road signs and most maps support MDOT's view.
The southern terminus is the junction with I-75 in Newport, Michigan, northeast of Monroe, Michigan.
I-275's northern terminus is also the western terminus of I-696, making this junction one of the few (perhaps the only) points that is the terminus of two three-digit Interstate Highways with different parents. With the original planned northern terminus at I-75 near Davisburg abandoned because of local opposition, it appears that the current northern terminus of I-275 at I-696 will be permanent.

Contents

History

Major cities

Junctions with major roads

Exit list

Lane configurations

Trivia

External links

History

★ 1968: The Michigan Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration identify the routing of I-275/I-96 from 5 Mile Rd to the current Northern terminus at I-696.

★ 1972: The remaining route from I-96 South to I-75 is identified.

★ 1973: Construction begins on Phase I of I-275 between Ford Rd and Schoolcraft Ave.

★ 1975: Phase I of I-275 is opened to traffic, construction commences on Phase II between I-96 and I-696.

★ 1976: Phase II opens to traffic, construction commences on Phase III between Ford Rd and I-75.

★ 1977: Phase III and the Jeffries Freeway opens to traffic and MDOT cancels phase IV which would have brought the freeway to its original destination, I-75 near Clarkston. Ramp stubs and bridges built at the new northern terminus to connect to phase IV remain unused for over 15 years.

★ 1994: M-5 (Haggerty Connector) opens to traffic following the southernmost section of the original Phase IV route of I-275, M-5 is completed to 12 Mile Road as a fully-functional limited access freeway.

★ 1999: M-5 is extended to 14 Mile Road as an expressway.

★ 2002: M-5 expressway extended to Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township. MDOT officially cancels all future plans to extend the road any further north.

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.

★ 'Toledo, Ohio' (via Interstate 75)

★ 'Flint, Michigan' (via Interstate 96 and US 23)

Junctions with major roads

★ US 24, exit 2 near Newport

★ I-94, exit 17 in Romulus

★ US 12, exit 22 in Canton Township

★ M-153, exit 25 in Canton Township

Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Monroe	Frenchtown Township		I-75 - Detroit, Toledo, Ohio	Southern terminus.
		2	US 24 - Telegraph Road
	Ash Township	5	Carleton, Rockwood
		8	Will Carleton Road - Flat Rock
Wayne	Huron Township	11	S. Huron Road	Southbound traffic has 2 exits. B is WEST, A is EAST. North access to Willow Metropark.
		13	Sibley Road - New Boston
	Romulus	15	Eureka Road	Detroit Metro Airport - South Access via John D. Dingell Drive.
		17	I-94 - Detroit, Chicago	Detroit Metro Airport - North Access via Merriman Road.
	Van Buren Township	20	Ecorse Road - Romulus	Connects to Willow Run Airport
	Canton	22	US 12 (Michigan Avenue) - Ypsilanti, Dearborn, Canton
		25	M-153 (Ford Road) - Westland, Garden City, Canton
	Plymouth	28	Ann Arbor Road
		29	I-96 east - Detroit/ M-14 west - Ann Arbor	exit not numbered for southbound traffic
		I-275 joins I-96 and uses its exit numbers
	Livonia	170	Six Mile Road
		169	Seven Mile Road	Northbound has two exits. B for Seven Mile Road EAST, A for WEST
		167	Eight Mile Road (Baseline Road) - Northville
Oakland	Farmington Hills	165	I-696 east - Port Huron/M-5 - Grand River Avenue	Northern terminus.
		I-275 ends. Freeway continues west as I-96.

Lane configurations

★ between southern terminus and Telegraph Road (c. 2 lanes)

★ between Telegraph Road and concurrency merge point of I-96 (c. 3 lanes)

★ from I-96 merge to Nine Mile Road (c. 4 lanes)

★ concurrent with I-96 from Nine Mile Road and terminating at the I-696/M-5 junction (c. 5 lanes)

Trivia

I-275 is the only freeway in Metro Detroit that has neither a commonly used proper name nor frontage roads running beside it.

External links

★ Eric Buchanan's Interstate 275 North Photos

★ Eric Buchanan's Interstate 275 South Photos

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