U.S. Route 8
U. S. Highway 8 is a United States Numbered Highway that runs east–west for 280 miles within the state of Wisconsin, it connects Interstate 35 in Forest Lake, Minnesota, to US 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. Except for the short freeway segment near Forest Lake, sections near the St. Croix River bridge and Rhinelander, Wisconsin, it is undivided surface road; as a state highway in the three states, US 8 is maintained by the Minnesota and Michigan departments of transportation. The highway was commissioned on November 11, 1926, with the rest of the original U. S. Highway System. At the time, it ran between Forest Lake and Pembine, with a planned continuation to Powers, Michigan. Several changes have been made to the routing of the highway since then; the western end was extended south to Minneapolis. Other changes on the east end have moved that terminus from the planned end location at Powers to the current location in Norway. Internal Wisconsin and Michigan DOT map files at various times have shown plans to reroute the highway to connect to the original 1926 terminus.
US 8's course through the three states has been shifted to follow different alignments over the years. WisDOT built a bypass around the city of Rhinelander in the 1990s and created a business loop along the old highway through the town; this loop was a locally maintained route through the central business district in Rhinelander. The signage for the loop was removed in 2005. US 8 begins at an interchange with I-35 in Forest Lake; this interchange is incomplete: traffic can only access US 8 directly from northbound I-35, westbound traffic on US 8 merges onto southbound I-35. The first one-mile segment of roadway to Forest Lake is a freeway, with an interchange at US 61. East of this junction, the highway follows Lake Boulevard North around Forest Lake and continues northeasterly through the community to cross the Washington–Chisago county line; the highway continues to the northeast along farmland and the shore of Green Lake to Chisago City, where it meets up with County Road 22. US 8 follows Lake Boulevard through Chisago City along the isthmus between the larger Chisago Lake and the smaller Wallmark Lake on the eastern side of town.
The highway turns along a more easterly path in Lindström between South Lindström lakes. East of those lakes, US 8 crosses into the town of Center City. In Center City, US 8 runs between North and South Center lakes, curving around the north shore of South Center Lake. On the eastern edge of town, it runs through Shafer. US 8 merges with State Highway 95 at a roundabout about two miles southwest of Taylors Falls; the two highways concurrently turn northeast along the St. Croix River. At this point, MN 95 continues north along the river while US 8 turns east to cross the St. Croix River, exiting the state of Minnesota into Wisconsin; the Minnesota section of US 8 is defined as Constitutional Route 46 and Legislative Route 98 in the Minnesota Statutes §§161.114 and 161.115. The section of US 8 in Chisago County is designated the Moberg Trail. US 8 enters Polk County at St. Croix Falls as a multilane roadway, it joins State Highway 35 at a diamond interchange located one mile from the state line. The two highways run concurrently for four miles before WIS 35 turns off to the north at a location in the Town of St. Croix Falls west of Deer Lake.
US 8 continues eastward through forest lands, WIS 46 joins from the north for a four-mile concurrency before splitting off to the south. Continuing eastward, US 8 crosses into Barron County at Turtle Lake. US 63 merges from the south near departs to the north in the downtown area; the roadway intersects WIS 25 in Barron. East of Barron, US 8 meets US 53 at a mixed diamond/cloverleaf interchange and turns north into Cameron turns east in downtown to leave the latter community. After a nine-mile straightaway, the highway crosses into Rusk County, it continues due east for an additional five miles before turning northeast and passing through Weyerhaeuser. Continuing northeasterly, the roadway crosses WIS 40 in Bruce. East of town, the highway continues through rural Rusk County, US 8 meets WIS 27 in downtown Ladysmith. Upon leaving Ladysmith, US 8 passes through the communities of Tony, Glen Flora and Hawkins on its way out of Rusk County. In Price County, US 8 passes through Catawba. WIS 111 terminates at its south end on US 8 just east of Catawba.
US 8 passes north of the city. The highway enters Lincoln County at Clifford. Further east, US 8 crosses Tripoli and McCord and runs north of Tomahawk as it passes through the Lake Nokomis area. US 51 crosses US 8 northeast of Tomahawk. US 8 turns northeast into Oneida County and onto a twisting northeasterly alignment; the highway expands to a divided highway into Rhinelander. It merges with WIS 47 on the southwest side of Rhinelander. WIS 17 north joins the highways one-half mile to the southeast, creating a wrong-way concurrency with WIS 47. WIS 17 turns to the north two miles southeast of there, US 8 and WIS 47 head eastbound out of the R
Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County in the U. S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 22,423. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the surrounded city of Highland Park. Known in the 20th century as a vibrant center of Polish American life and culture, Hamtramck has continued to attract immigrants Bangladeshis. In 2015, its city council became the first majority Muslim city council in the U. S. Hamtramck is named for the French-Canadian soldier Jean François Hamtramck, the first American commander of Fort Shelby, the fortification at Detroit, it was known as Hamtramck Township. Hamtramck was settled by German farmers, but Polish immigrants moved into the area when the Dodge Brothers plant opened in 1914. Poles used to make up a large proportion of the population, it is sometimes confused with Poletown, a traditional Polish neighborhood, which used to lie in the city of Detroit and includes a small part of Hamtramck.
As of the 2010 American Community Survey, 14.5% of Hamtramck's population is of Polish origin. Over the past thirty years, a large number of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, Southeastern Europe have moved to the city; as of the 2010 American Community Survey, the city's foreign born population stood at 41.1%, making it Michigan's most internationally diverse city. The population was 43,355 in the 1950 Census, 18,372 in 1990. Hamtramck was farmland, although the Detroit Stove Works employed 1,300 workers to manufacture stoves. In 1901, part of the township incorporated as a village to gain more control over the settlement's affairs, by 1922 the village reincorporated as a city to fend off annexation attempts by the neighboring city of Detroit. By the mid-1920s, 78% of the residents of Hamtramck owned their own houses or were buying their houses. Around that time, the factory workers made up 85% of Hamtramck's heads of households. Of those factory workers, half were not skilled. In 1910, the newly founded Dodge Main assembly plant created jobs for thousands of workers and led to additional millions of dollars in the city.
Dodge Main expanded and became important to Hamtramck. Before the construction of Dodge Main, Hamtramck was a rural town. With the Dodge Main assembly plant came a large Polish population; the influx of Polish immigrants pushed out the incumbent German politicians. It was at this point. Elections in November 2015 made the city the first to elect a Muslim-majority council in the country. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.09 square miles, all land. Hamtramck is surrounded by Detroit except for its small common border with the city of Highland Park, in turn surrounded by Detroit. Hamtramck lies about 5 miles from the center of Detroit; the I-75 freeway runs along this city's western border and I-94 runs near its southern border. Hamtramck flourished from 1910 to 1920 as thousands of European immigrants Poles, were attracted by the growing automobile industry; the city has grown ethnically diverse but still bears many reminders of its Polish ancestry in family names, street names and businesses.
A recent survey found 26 native languages spoken by Hamtramck schoolchildren. The city's motto was "A League of Nations". Neal Rubin of The Detroit News wrote in 2010 that despite the demographic changes, "In a lot of ways, Hamtramck still feels like a Polish enclave."In 1987, Detroit television station WDIV ran one episode of a local sit-com called Hamtramck which featured former Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Rozema and a cameo by manager Sparky Anderson. It was met by poor reviews and protests by many Polish-Americans, was canceled before airing a second episode. At the time of the 2000 census, Hamtramck was again experiencing considerable growth, with over 8,000 households and a population of 23,000; the 8,000-square-foot Hamtramck Historical Museum and the Polish Art Center are next door to one another. In 1997, the Utne Reader named Hamtramck one of "the 15 hippest neighborhoods in the U. S. and Canada" in part for its punk and alternative music scene, its Buddhist temple, its cultural diversity, its laid back blue-collar neighborhoods.
In May 2003, Maxim Blender selected Hamtramck as the second "Most Rock N' Roll City" in the U. S. behind Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City. Hamtramck is home of several of Michigan's most distinguished music venues. In January 2004, members of the Al-Islah Islamic Center requested permission to use loudspeakers for the purpose of broadcasting the Islamic call to prayer; this request set off a contentious debate in the city, about the noise that would be caused by the call to prayer garnering national attention. Hamtramck amended its noise ordinance in July 2004, regulating all religious sounds. Hamtramck Disneyland, an art installation, is in the city. Polish immigrants and residents of Hamtramck and southeastern Michigan celebrate Tłusty Czwartek, known locally as Pączki Day, by lining up at the city's numerous Polish bakeries to purchase pączki. On Pączki Day, several local bars host parties with free pączki; the "Hamtramck Music Festival" is an annual Independent music festival held in March in Hamtramck.
It is sponsored by Bens Encore and the local Artist Community. In 2011 200 bands played the Blowout at 14 venues over four days. Held annually in the first weekend in May at grounds at St. Florian Church. Held
M-1 (Michigan highway)
M-1 known as Woodward Avenue, is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan. The highway, called "Detroit's Main Street", runs from Detroit north-northwesterly to Pontiac, it is one of the five principal avenues of Detroit, along with Michigan, Grand River and Jefferson avenues. These streets were platted in 1805 by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, namesake to Woodward Avenue; the Federal Highway Administration has listed the highway as the Automotive Heritage Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program. It has been designated a Pure Michigan Byway by the Michigan Department of Transportation, was included in the MotorCities National Heritage Area designated by the US Congress in 1998; the trunkline is the dividing line between Detroit's East and West sides, connects to some of the city's major freeways like Interstate 94 and M-8. Woodward Avenue exits Detroit at M-102 and runs through the city's northern suburbs in Oakland County on its way to Pontiac.
In between, Woodward Avenue passes through several historic districts in Detroit and provides access to many businesses in the area. The name Woodward Avenue has become synonymous with Detroit, cruising culture and the automotive industry. Woodward Avenue was created after the Detroit Fire of 1805; the thoroughfare followed the route of the Saginaw Trail, an Indian trail that linked Detroit with Pontiac and Saginaw. The Saginaw Trail connected to the Mackinaw Trail, which ran north to the Straits of Mackinac at the tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In the age of the auto trails, Woodward Avenue was part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway that connected Portland, with Portland, through Ontario in Canada, it was part of the Dixie Highway, which connected Michigan with Florida. Woodward Avenue was the location of the first mile of concrete-paved roadway in the country; when Michigan created the State Trunkline Highway System in 1913, the roadway was included, numbered as part of M-10 in 1919.
It was part of US Highway 10 following the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System. Since 1970, it has borne the M-1 designation; the roadway carried streetcar lines from the 1860s until the 1950s. Like other state highways in Michigan, the section of Woodward Avenue designated M-1 is maintained by MDOT. In 2011, the department's traffic surveys showed that on average, 64,713 vehicles used the highway daily north of 11 Mile Road and 17,345 vehicles did so each day in Highland Park, the highest and lowest counts along the highway, respectively. All of M-1 north of I-75 is listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy and mobility; as well as the sections of Woodward Avenue in Pontiac that are part of Business Loop I-75 and Business US 24, all of M-1 is a Pure Michigan Byway and an All-American Road. Woodward Avenue is considered to be the divider between the East and West sides of the city of Detroit. Woodward Avenue starts at an intersection with Jefferson Avenue next to Hart Plaza about 750 feet from the Detroit River.
The plaza is regarded as the birthplace of the Ford Motor Company, it is located near Cobo Center and the Renaissance Center, headquarters for General Motors. Woodward Avenue runs north-northwesterly away from the river through the heart of downtown Detroit and the Financial District. Along the way, it passes several important and historic sites, including notable buildings like One Woodward Avenue, the Guardian Building, The Qube. Woodward passes The Spirit of Detroit, a statue used to symbolize the city. Further north, Woodward Avenue runs around Campus Martius Park and enters the Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District, a retail and residential district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After that historic district, the avenue travels through the middle of Grand Circus Park. North of Adams Avenue, Woodward Avenue is a state trunkline designated M-1; the highway crosses to the west of Comerica Park and Ford Field, home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers and the National Football League's Detroit Lions, respectively.
Woodward passes the historic Fox Theatre. North of the freeway, M-1 passes Little Caesars Arena, home of the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings and the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons. A six-lane street, the highway travels through mixed residential and commercial areas of Midtown including the Midtown Woodward Historic District, another district listed on the NRHP. South of I-94, Woodward heads through the Cultural Center Historic District, which includes the campus of Wayne State University, the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Institute of Arts. North of I-94, Woodward passes through New Center; the neighborhoods on either side of the highway transition in composition north of New Center. Between the intersections with Webb Street/Woodland Street and Tuxedo Street/Tennyson Street, Woodward Avenue leaves the city of Detroit for the first time and crosses into Highland Park, an enclave within Detroit, it is within Highland Park that M-1 intersects M-8, t
Highland Park, Michigan
Highland Park is a city in Wayne County in the State of Michigan, within Metro Detroit. The population was 11,776 at the 2010 census; the city is surrounded by Detroit except for a small portion that touches the city of Hamtramck, surrounded by Detroit. The area, to become Highland Park began as a small farming community, on a large ridge located at what is now Woodward Avenue and Highland, six miles north of Detroit. In 1818, prominent Detroit judge Augustus B. Woodward bought the ridge, platted the village of Woodwardville in 1825; the development of the village failed. Another Detroit judge, Benjamin F. H. Witherell, son of Michigan Supreme Court justice James Witherell, attempted to found a village platted as Cassandra on this site in 1836, but this plan failed. By 1860, the settlement was given a post office under the name of Whitewood. After a succession of closures and reopenings of the rural post office, the settlement was incorporated as a village within Greenfield Township and Hamtramck Township under the name of Highland Park in 1889.
In 1907, Henry Ford purchased 160 acres just north of Manchester Street between Woodward Avenue and Oakland Street to build an automobile plant. Construction of the Highland Park Ford Plant was completed in 1909, the area's population increased just a few years in 1913, when Henry Ford opened the first assembly line at the plant; the village of Highland Park was incorporated as a city in 1918 to protect its tax base, including its successful Ford plant, from Detroit's expanding boundaries. In 1910 Highland Park a village, had 4,120 residents. Between 1910 and 1920 during the boom associated with the automobile industry, Highland Park's population grew to about 46,500, an increase of 1,081 percent; the growth of Highland Park and neighboring Hamtramck broke records for increases of population. In 1925, Chrysler Corporation was founded in Highland Park, it purchased the Brush-Maxwell plant in the city, which would expand to 150 acres, serve as the site of the company's headquarters for the next 70 years.
Arthur Lupp of Highland Park founded the Michigan branch of the Black Legion in 1931. The Legion had a similar nativist bent and its members were opposed to immigrants, Jews, labor organizers, etc. Numerous public and business officials of Highland Park, including the chief of police, a mayor, a city councilman, joined this group. Lupp and others were among a total of 48 men indicted and convicted following the murder of Charles Poole in May 1936. Investigations revealed the Legion had been involved in numerous other murders or conspiracies to murder during the previous three years, for which another 37 men were convicted; these convictions ended the reign of the Legion. In 1944, the Davison Freeway was opened as the country's first modern depressed urban freeway, running through the center of the city; the freeway was reconstructed and widened in 1996 and 1997 to improve its safety. Ford Motor Company wound down operations at its Highland Park plant in the late 1950s. With the loss of industrial jobs, the city suffered many of the same difficulties as Detroit: declines in population and tax base accompanied by an increase in street crime.
White flight from the city accelerated after the 1967 Detroit 12th Street Riot. Ford's last operation at the factory, the production of tractors at its Model T plant, was discontinued in 1973, a year the entire property was sold to a private developer for general industrial usage; the city population was majority black and impoverished by the 1980s. Chrysler, the last major private sector employer in the city, moved its corporate headquarters from Highland Park to Auburn Hills between 1991 and 1993, paying the city a total of $44 million in compensation; the move dislocated a total of 6,000 jobs over this period. Known as "The City of Trees," the town was thickly forested until the 1970s; the spread of Dutch elm disease required many old trees to be cut down. In June 2001, because of the Highland Park's mounting fiscal crisis, an emergency financial manager for the city was appointed under the supervision of the State of Michigan. In April 2009, state officials fired Arthur Blackwell as Highland Park's emergency financial manager for over-payments that Blackwell received.
In August 2011, more than two-thirds of the streetlights in Highland Park were removed by the city, due to an inability to pay a $60,000 per month electric bill. The street lights were not only turned off, but decommissioned, or removed from their posts; the city advised residents to keep porch lights on in order to deter crime. On November 20, 2013 the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department filed a lawsuit against the City of Highland Park regarding unpaid sewage services and water totaling $17.7 million. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.97 square miles, all land. Highland Park is 6 miles north-northwest from Downtown Detroit, it is bounded by McNichols Road to the north, Grand Trunk Western Railroad Holly Subdivision tracks to the east, the alleys of Tuxedo and Tennyson streets to the south, the Lodge Freeway and Thompson Street to the west. As of the census of 2010, there were 11,776 people, 4,645 households, 2,406 families residing in the city; the population density was 3,965.0 inhabitants per square mile.
There were 6,090 housing units at an average density of 2,050.5 per square mile. The racial mak
Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, United States. Located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. According to the 2010 census, Flint has a population of 102,434, making it the seventh largest city in Michigan; the Flint metropolitan area is located within Genesee County. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 425,790 in 2010; the city was incorporated in 1855. Flint was founded as a village by fur trader Jacob Smith in 1819 and became a major lumbering area on the historic Saginaw Trail during the 19th century. From the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, the city was a leading manufacturer of carriages and automobiles, earning it the nickname "Vehicle City". General Motors was founded in Flint in 1908, the city grew into an automobile manufacturing powerhouse for GM's Buick and Chevrolet divisions after World War II up until the early 1980s recession. Flint was the home of the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936–37 that played a vital role in the formation of the United Automobile Workers.
Since the late 1960s, Flint has faced several crises. The city sank into a deep economic depression after GM downsized its workforce in the area from a 1978 high of 80,000 to under 8,000 by 2010. From 1960 to 2010, the population of the city nearly halved from 196,940 to 102,434. In the mid-2000s, Flint became known for its high crime rates and has been ranked among the most dangerous cities in the United States; the city was under a state of financial emergency from 2002–2004 and again from 2011–2015. Since 2014, the city has faced a major public health emergency due to lead contamination in the local water supply that has affected thousands of residents, as well as an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease due to tainted water; the Saginaw Valley the vicinity of Flint, is considered by some to be the oldest continually inhabited area of Michigan. Regardless of the validity of this claim, the region was home to several Ojibwa tribes at the start of the 19th century, with a significant community established near present-day Montrose.
The Flint River had several convenient fords which became points of contention among rival tribes, as attested by the presence of arrowheads and burial mounds near it. Some of the city resides atop ancient Ojibwa burial grounds. In 1819, Jacob Smith, a fur trader on cordial terms with both the local Ojibwas and the territorial government founded a trading post at the Grand Traverse of the Flint River. On several occasions, Smith negotiated land exchanges with the Ojibwas on behalf of the U. S. government, he was regarded on both sides. Smith apportioned many of his holdings to his children; as the ideal stopover on the overland route between Detroit and Saginaw, Flint grew into a small but prosperous village, incorporated in 1855. The 1860 U. S. census indicated that Genesee County had a population of 22,498 of Michigan's 750,000. In the latter half of the 19th century, Flint became a center of the Michigan lumber industry. Revenue from lumber funded the establishment of a local carriage-making industry.
As horse-drawn carriages gave way to the automobiles, Flint naturally grew into a major player in the nascent auto industry. Buick Motor Company, after a rudimentary start in Detroit, soon moved to Flint. AC Spark Plug originated in Flint; these were followed by several now-defunct automobile marques such as the Dort, Little and Mason brands. Chevrolet's first manufacturing facility was in Flint, although the Chevrolet headquarters were in Detroit. For a brief period, all Chevrolets and Buicks were built in Flint. In 1904, local entrepreneur William C. Durant was brought in to manage Buick, which became the largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1908. In 1908, Durant founded General Motors, filing incorporation papers in New Jersey, with headquarters in Flint. GM moved its headquarters to Detroit in the mid-1920s. Durant lost control of GM twice during his lifetime. On the first occasion, he befriended Louis Chevrolet and founded Chevrolet, a runaway success, he used the capital from this success to buy back share control.
He lost decisive control again, permanently. Durant experienced financial ruin in the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequently ran a bowling alley in Flint until the time of his death in 1947; the city's mayors were targeted for recall twice, Mayor David Cuthbertson in 1924 and Mayor William H. McKeighan in 1927. Recall supporters in both cases were jailed by the police. Cuthbertson had angered the KKK by the appointment of a Catholic police chief; the KKK supported Judson Transue, Cutbertson's elected successor. Transue however did not remove the police chief. McKeighan survived his recall only to face conspiracy charges in 1928. McKeighan was under investigation for a multitude of crimes which angered city leaders enough to push for changes in the city charter. In 1928, the city adopted a new city charter with a council-manager form of government. Subsequently, McKeighan ran the "Green Slate" of candidates who won in 1931 and 1932 and he was select as mayor in 1931. In 1935, the city residents approved a charter amendment establishing the Civil Service Commission.
For the last century, Flint's history has been dominated by both car culture. During the Sit-Down Strike of 1936–1937, the fledgling United Automobile Workers triumphed over General Motors, inaugurating the era of labor unions; the successful mediation of the strike by Governor Frank Murphy, culminating in a one-page agreement recognizing the Union, began an era of successful organizing by the UAW. The
M-10 (Michigan highway)
M-10 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan in the United States. The southernmost portion follows Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit, the southern terminus is at the intersection of Jefferson and M-3 next to the entrance to the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel; the northern terminus is in West Bloomfield Township at the intersection with Orchard Lake Road. The highway has several names as it runs through residential and commercial areas of the west side of Detroit and into the suburb of Southfield, it is called The Lodge, James Couzens Highway and Northwestern Highway. M-10 was built in segments through early 1960s, it carried several different names before the entire route was officially named the John C. Lodge Freeway in 1987; the freeway has carried a few other highway designations. The southern segment was part of US Highway 12 and the whole thing was renumbered Business Spur Interstate 696. From 1970 until 1986, it was part of US 10, the freeway has been M-10 since.
The non-freeway segment that runs between I-696 in Southfield and Orchard Lake Road was numbered M-4. M-10 was named after John C. Lodge, an influential Detroiter and Mayor of Detroit from 1927–28. Running about 22.8 miles in the Metro Detroit area, M-10 runs northwest–southeast from Downtown Detroit into the northern suburbs in Oakland County. The entire length of the highway is listed as a part of the National Highway System, a system of roads importance to the nation's economy and mobility; as a state trunkline highway, the roadway is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation, it includes 18.5 miles of freeway. M-10 has six lanes from Detroit to Inkster Road in Farmington Hills. According to the department, 28,964 vehicles use M-10 on average near on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, 139,800 vehicles do so between US 24 and Lahser Road in Southfield, the lowest and highest traffic counts along the highway in 2013, respectively. M-10 starts at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street in Downtown Detroit, an intersection that marks the southern end of M-3 and the western end of Business Spur I-375.
This intersection is the access to the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel between the Renaissance Center and the Old Mariners' Church. From here, M-10 runs west-southwesterly parallel to the Detroit River on Jefferson Avenue past Hart Plaza. At the intersection with Woodward Avenue, M-10 transitions onto the John C. Lodge Freeway, which runs under Cobo Center, home of the North American International Auto Show each January; the freeway turns north-northwesterly and away from the Detroit River next to Joe Louis Arena. North of the Cobo Center curve, M-10 forms the boundary between Downtown Detroit to the east and the Corktown neighborhood to the west; the freeway has a pair of service drives as it leaves the commercial areas near the MGM Grand Detroit and the interchange with I-75. North of I-75, M-10 forms the border between Midtown Detroit; the freeway passes the MotorCity Casino at the interchange with Grand River Avenue. The rest of its route in this part of the city passes through residential zones. Near the interchange with I-94, M-10 passes the campus of Wayne State University.
M-10 intersects I-94 at the first freeway-to-freeway interchange in the United States. North of I-94, the Lodge Freeway is the border between the West New Center; this area is residential on either side of the freeway north of the campus of the Henry Ford Hospital. North of Clairmont Avenue, M-10 curves to the northwest before resuming its north-northwesterly course near Chicago Boulevard. North of Webb Avenue, the freeway follows the western city limits of Highland Park, an enclave within the city of Detroit. M-10 intersects M-8 where it transitions between Davison Avenue and the Davison Freeway on the western edge of Highland Park before the Lodge Freeway curves around to run due west. M-10 runs for about two miles on this due westward course before it intersects Wyoming Avenue and turns northwest; the frontage roads change names from John C. Lodge Service Drive to James Couzens Freeway at the Wyoming Avenue interchange; the freeway continues for another 3 1⁄2 miles with interchanges for local streets in this part of Detroit, including 7 Mile Road.
At the interchange with M-102, the freeway crosses out of Detroit and Wayne County into Southfield in Oakland County. The service drives change names again to Northwestern Highway upon crossing into Oakland County; the east side of M-10 is flanked by the Northland Shopping Center and a campus of Oakland Community College. About 1 1⁄4 miles into Southfield, M-10 intersects the northern end of M-39 and 9 Mile Road; the adjacent properties are residential, but there are some commercial areas centered around the various Mile Roads, such as the campus of Lawrence Technological University at 10 Mile Road. Near Lahser and 11 Mile roads, M-10 meets I-696 and US 24 in a complex interchange called the Mixing Bowl; this interchange spans over two miles near the American Center. The carriageways for I-696 run in the median of M-10 while partial interchanges connect to Lahser and Franklin roads on either end of the various ramps that connect to I-696 and US 24. Northwest of this interchange, M-10 transitions to a boulevard with Michigan lefts.
Called just Northwestern Highway, M-10 runs through suburban residential areas of Southfield. At the intersectio
Michigan Department of Transportation
The Michigan Department of Transportation is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate, US and state highways in Michigan with the exception of the Mackinac Bridge. Other responsibilities that fall under MDOT's mandate include airports and rail in Michigan; the predecessor to today's MDOT was the Michigan State Highway Department, formed on July 1, 1905 after a constitutional amendment was approved that year. The first activities of the department were to distribute rewards payments to local units of government for road construction and maintenance. In 1913, the state legislature authorized the creation of the state trunkline highway system, the MSHD paid double rewards for those roads; these trunklines were signed in 1919, making Michigan the second state to post numbers on its highways. The department continued to improve roadways under its control through the Great Depression and into World War II.
During the war, the state built its first freeways. These freeways became the start of Michigan's section of the Interstate Highway System. Since the mid-1960s, the department was reorganized, it was renamed the Michigan Department of State Highways for a time. Further changes culminated in adding all modes of transportation to the department's portfolio. In August 1973, the department was once again renamed to the Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation by executive order; the name was simplified and shortened to that of today. The first State Highway Department was created on July 1, 1905; the department was born out of the Good Roads Movement at the turn of the century. Bicycle enthusiasts as a part of the League of American Wheelmen pushed for better roads and streets, they wanted to ensure that bicyclists could use these streets and roads free from interference from horsedrawn vehicles. This movement persuaded the Michigan State Legislature to form a State Highway Commission in 1892.
Another law in 1893 allowed voters in each county to establish county road commissions. The attention of Michigan residents was turned to the good-roads movement by Horatio S. Earle, the first state highway commission. In 1900 he organized the first International Road Congress in Port Huron and put together a tour of a 1-mile macadam road, he ran for the state senate in 1900 at the urging of the Detroit Wheelmen bicycle club. The legislature set up a state reward system for highways and created the State Highway Department with an office of Highway Commissioner. Earle was appointed by Governor Aaron Bliss; this appointment and department were voided when the attorney general ruled the law unconstitutional. A constitutional amendment was passed in 1905 to reverse this decision; the department was formed, Earle was appointed commissioner by Governor Fred M. Warner on July 1, 1905. At first the department administered rewards to the counties and townships for building roads to state minimum specifications.
In 1905 there were 68,000 miles of roads in Michigan. Of these roads, only 7,700 miles were improved with gravel and 245 miles were macadam; the state's "statute labor system" was abolished in 1907. Under that system, a farmer and a team of horses could work on road improvements in place of paying road taxes. Instead a property tax system was instituted with the funding only for permanent improvements, not maintenance; the nation's first mile of concrete roadway was laid along Woodward Avenue between Six Mile and Seven Mile roads in Detroit. This section of street was 17 feet 8 inches wide. Work began by the Wayne County Road Commission on April 2, 1909 and finished on July 4, 1909, at a cost of $13,354. In 1913 voters elected Frank Rogers to the post of highway commissioner; this election was the first. Automobile registrations surged to 20 times the level at the department's formation, to 60,438, there were 1,754 miles of roads built under the rewards system. Passage of the "State Trunkline Act" provided for 3,000 miles of roadways with double rewards payments.
Further legislation during the Rogers administration allowed for special assessment taxing districts for road improvements, taxation of automobiles based on weight and horsepower and tree-planting along highway roadsides. Another law allowed the commissioner to name all unnamed state roads, it allowed for the posting of signage with the names and distances to towns. The first centerline was painted on a state highway in 1917 along the Marquette-Negaunee Road, designated Trunkline 15, now Marquette County Road 492 That same year the first stop sign was put in place and the country's first "crow's nest" traffic signal tower was installed in Detroit; this traffic light using red-yellow-green was developed by a Detroit police officer. Michigan is home to the first snowplow; this winter maintenance started during World War. In 1919 Michigan first signed the second state after Wisconsin to do so; the first ferry service was started on July 1923, linking Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. The first gasoline tax was enacted in 1923 at the rate of $0.02/gal, but vetoed by Governor Alex Groesbeck.
It was enacted effective in 1926. The highway commissioner was given complete control over the planning and maintenance of the state trunklines. Construction switched to concrete or asphalt only instead of gravel and macadam with an increase in the
I-96 in Detroit
→
M-10 (Lodge Freeway) – Downtown Detroit, Lansing
M-1 (Woodward Avenue)
I-75 (Chrysler Freeway) – Flint, Toledo
