Interstate 275 (Michigan)

Infobox road
state=MI
type=I
route=275


maint=MDOT
length_mi=35.01
length_round=2
length_ref=Fact|date=March 2007
established=1968 (completed 1977)
direction_a=South
terminus_a=Jct|state=MI|I|75 near Monroe
junction=
direction_b=North
terminus_b=Jct|state=MI|I|96|I|696|MI|5 in Farmington Hills
previous_type=MI
previous_route=247
next_type=MI
next_route=294

Interstate 275 (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 convert|29.97|mi|km while the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports the length as convert|35.01|mi|km. 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.

Route description

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

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)

History

I-275 was originally planned as an alternate Interstate highway (technically referred to as an "even-numbered circumferential highway") allowing through traffic on I-75 to bypass the city of Detroit. The present-day freeway was built in three stages over two years.

In 1975, the first four miles (6 km) of the freeway were opened to traffic from M-153/Ford Rd. to Schoolcraft Ave [cite web | author =Bessert, Christopher J. |title = Michigan Highways: Highways 250 through 696 |work= Michigan Highways |url=http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys250-696.html#I-275 |accessdate = 2008-04-25] . The second phase was completed in the autumn of 1976, when I-275 was extended north from Schoolcraft (and the not-yet-completed interchange with the future route of I-96/Jeffries Freeway to the I-275/I-96/I-696 interchange in Novi. Then in January 1977, the remaining portion of I-275 from I-75 north of Monroe to M-153/Ford Rd. was completed and opened to traffic six months ahead of schedule. The highway was now continuous from I-75 through to I-696. The original route was planned to continue north through Oakland County and reconnect to I-75 near Davisburg, thus making I-275 a true bypass loop. But due to increasing population and business growth in this area and local opposition to the extension, the final segment of this bypass was not completed. Unfortunately, in early 1977, the Michigan Department of Transportation cancelled their long-standing plans for this northerly extension of I-275.

After many years of inactivity, further work began along this same route, but the resulting highway was designated M-5 rather than I-275. The first section of this freeway extension was opened in October 1994 [cite web | lauthor= Bessert, Christopher J. |title= Michigan Highways: Highways 1 through 9 |url=http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys01-09.html#M-005 |accessdate = 2008-04-25] . This extended the route from I-275's previous terminus at I-96/I-696 north to 12 Mile Rd. In 1999, a second extension of M-5 was completed to 14 Mile Rd., but only as an expressway. The final two miles (3 km) between 14 Mile Rd. and Pontiac Trail were completed on 2002-11-01 and no further construction north of this point is currently planned.

Exit list

References

External links

* [http://www.interstate80.info/i275n1.html Eric Buchanan's Interstate 275 North Photos]
* [http://www.interstate80.info/i275s1.html Eric Buchanan's Interstate 275 South Photos]
* [http://www.state-ends.com/michigan/i275 State-ends.com]