Interstate 194 (I-194) is a 3.4-mile-long (5.5 km), north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway between downtown Battle Creek and I-94 in the southern portion of the city. The highway has been designated the Sojourner Truth Downtown Parkway by the state after the abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who was active in the Battle Creek area. Locals refer to the freeway by its semi-official nickname, "The Penetrator". I-194 is the only three-digit spur or loop route off I-94 in the state of Michigan and runs concurrently throughout its length with M-66, which continues both north and south from the termini of I-194. The freeway was initially opened in 1961 and completed in its current form in 1966. The highway was named in 1976 for Truth in honor of her local connections to the area.

Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses all of Calhoun County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 52,731. Nicknamed "Cereal City", it is best known as the home of WK Kellogg Co and the founding city of Post Consumer Brands.