U.S. Route 16 in Michigan

This article is about the section of highway in Michigan. For the entire length of the current highway, see U.S. Route 16.

US Highway 16 marker
US Highway 16
Map
US 16 highlighted in red on a modern map
Route information
Maintained by MSHD
Length210.643 mi[1] (338.997 km)
ExistedNovember 11, 1926 (1926-11-11)[2]–1962 (1962)[3][4]
HistoryReplaced by I-96
Major junctions
West endCar ferry docks in Muskegon
Major intersections
East end US 10 / US 12 / US 25 in Detroit
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesMuskegon, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton, Ingham, Livingston, Oakland, Wayne
Highway system
← M-15US 16, M-16→ M-17
← M-125M-126→ US 127

US Highway 16 (US 16), also called Grand River Avenue for much of its length in the state, was one of the principal roads prior to the post-World War II construction of freeways in the state of Michigan. Before the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, the highway had been designated as a state highway numbered M-16. The modern route of Grand River Avenue cuts across the Lower Peninsula in a northwest–southeast fashion from near Grand Rapids to Detroit. Before the late 1950s and early 1960s, US 16 followed other roads between Muskegon and Grand Rapids, and then Grand River Avenue through Lansing to Detroit. In the years immediately preceding the creation of the Interstate Highway System, US 16 was shifted from older roads to newer freeways. Later, it was co-designated as an Interstate. When the gap in the freeway was filled in around Lansing, the US 16 designation was decommissioned in the state. The freeway was solely designated Interstate 96 (I-96) east of Grand Rapids and I-196 west of that city.

The original pathway along the Grand River Avenue corridor was an Indian trail, a footpath used by the native population. The first European settlers to the area now known as Michigan also used this trail and in some areas enlarged it for the passage of wagons. In Detroit, Grand River is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Michigan, Gratiot, and Jefferson) planned by Judge Augustus Woodward in 1805 that extended from Downtown Detroit in differing radial directions; Grand River Avenue extends northwesterly from the city's downtown. In the middle of the 19th century, the trail was expanded into a plank road that formed the basis for one of the first state trunkline highways as M-16 in the early 20th century. Later, the highway was rerouted to replace M-126 and create M-104. Current segments of the roadway are still part of the state highway system as sections of M-5, M-11, M-43 or business loops off I-96. The portion of Grand River Avenue in Detroit between I-96 and the intersection with Cass Avenue and Middle Street in Downtown Detroit is an unsigned state trunkline, sometimes referred to as Old Business Spur I-96 (Old BS I-96).

  1. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  2. ^ McNichol, Dan (2006). The Roads that Built America. New York: Sterling. p. 74. ISBN 1-4027-3468-9. OCLC 63377558.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSHD62 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSHD63 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).