  Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 312 Registered: 11-2003 |
Was driving up on 94 to Metro Beach the other day, and I saw multiple "James G. O'Hara" Freeway signs. I always thought 94 was the Ford Freeway - 75 the Chrysler, 96 the Jeffries and 696 the Reuther. So, my question to the masses is, how are freeways named? Who makes these decisions, and maybe, what is the story behind naming certain freeways as they are? I know it's not the most weighty of subjects, but I am very curious about it. | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 72 Registered: 05-2007 |
don't forget about 375 the Fischer Freeway. M10 named after The John C. Lodge (mayor of detroit reincarnated as forum poster). 696 the Reuther Freeway. Named after Walter P Reuther, legendary union man. Although I'm surprised 696 wasn't named the Hoffa Freeway since he's buried in one of the bridge pilings or something. | ||
Mkhopper Member Username: Mkhopper Post Number: 9 Registered: 02-2006 |
Info on the Michigan highway system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M ichigan_highway_system Looks like a portion of 94 was named for O'Hara a few years ago. http://law.justia.com/michigan /codes/mcl-chap250/mcl-250-106 2.html Info on O'Hara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J ames_G._O'Hara (you'll probably have to manually copy / paste that last URL) | ||
Goldensunshine Member Username: Goldensunshine Post Number: 35 Registered: 11-2005 |
When I was a toddler, I used to get "the Jeffries", and the street called "Jefferson" mixed up | ||
Goldensunshine Member Username: Goldensunshine Post Number: 36 Registered: 11-2005 |
Do you know that 94 runs aaaaaallllll the way out to the state of Montana??? And the fact the I-75 runs all the way down to the Florida Keys is old news  | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 1253 Registered: 10-2003 |
fisher freeway, as in fisher building, body by fisher, and the fisher family. no "c" in there. | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 74 Registered: 05-2007 |
multi tasking by working and posting at the same time. please excuse my fat fingers | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5250 Registered: 08-2004 |
Wait a minute... Fisher Fwy = I-75 Chrysler Fwy = I-75 and I-375 | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9951 Registered: 12-2003 |
They called it the Fisher Freeway when it went near all the Fisher plants over on Fort Street...it crossed Fort a block or so west of my father's old workplace, Fleetwood. So yeah, I-75 is BOTH the Fisher and the Chrysler. I'm pretty sure those car names are ALL because of proximity to the respective car companies headquarters and/or major operations. Doesn't explain why GM didn't really get props in the naming, though. Curious. | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 1254 Registered: 10-2003 |
no prb raptor, just clarifying for history's sake. ford freeway was similarly named; it was constructed to move workers from their detroit homes out to the rouge factory in dearborn. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1136 Registered: 11-2003 |
The name "James G. O'Hara Freeway" was simply juxtaposed with the existing Ford Fwy. name. It's too bad that M-DOT has recently been removing almost all signs that have the traditional freeway names. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1137 Registered: 11-2003 |
Other names that I-75 downriver has had include "Seaway Fwy" and "Detroit-Toledo Fwy." | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5253 Registered: 08-2004 |
Gannon, by the time the Fisher Fwy was named, Fisher Body was part of GM. So perhaps that was the nod to GM. After all the freeways are named after people, and not companies (Edsel Ford Fwy., Walter P. Chrysler Freeway... etc.). I believe that in the case of Fisher, there were 7 Fisher brothers. I believe the nod was to all 7 of them, and not the company. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9952 Registered: 12-2003 |
Thanks, Gistok, I knew that...but it still begs the question why if the main company, Ford for Ford/Lincoln/Mercury/Edsel...C hrysler for Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth/Desoto ...but why just Fisher for GM? I just wonder, Ford was the 'bad guy' against the early mass transit plans (so they specifically name I-94 after his son)...perhaps by the fifties GM had replaced them as the dark force...so the namers snubbed 'em except for the upstanding Fisher Brothers?! Went looking for anything called the "General Motors Freeway" on Google, and got this East San Francisco Bay version of the basic storyline behind 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. I think GM did more than their share of shady anti-mass transit deals in the late 40s and early 50s... | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1138 Registered: 11-2003 |
In Flint, I-475 is the UAW Fwy. and I-69 is the Chevrolet-Buick Fwy. Originally, I-475 was the Buick (because it ran past the Buick plants) and I-69 the Chevrolet (because it ran past several of the Chevy plants), but then it was decided to honor the UAW, so I-69 got the combined name. And then in Lansing, I-496 is the Olds Fwy-- kind of ironic, since the R.E. Olds mansion was demolished during the freeway construction. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 189 Registered: 01-2007 |
I've lived in the Detroit area for probably 41 of 45 years. I find the naming of freeways after people confusing, especially in other cities that I am unfamiliar with. Quick... give me the names of M-59 from I-96 to I-94! Here they are: M-59 Hartland Rd. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Freeway Highland Rd. W Huron St. E Huron St. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Freeway Hall Rd. William P. Rosso Hwy. This is a fine example of politicians stroking the "winkies" of political contributors with naming rights for contributions. You see it in the cities too. Oakland Ave. becomes AKA Cesar Chavez Blvd. in Pontiac. E. Blvd.... MLK. Wide Track becomes Woodward, Woodward becomes the "Loop". 12th St. in Detroit? Rosa Parks. Certainly it keeps the mapmakers employed. But it does no favors for historians like us. Growl. Grrr... James | ||
Treble484 Member Username: Treble484 Post Number: 30 Registered: 02-2006 |
Ford Fwy was also named because it carried workers to the ford - Willow Run Bomber plant during WWII. | ||
Treble484 Member Username: Treble484 Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2006 |
I'm bad was only partially correct | ||
Deteamster Member Username: Deteamster Post Number: 41 Registered: 07-2007 |
I may be wrong but I think James G. O'Hara whatever refers to 16 Mile(a divided highway). | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 2937 Registered: 11-2003 |
Do you mean Quarton/Big Beaver/Metro Parkway/16-Mile? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2135 Registered: 10-2003 |
You could say the same with the Mile roads. 6 Mile - McNichols 8 Mile - Base Line 15 Mile - Maple 17 Mile - Lone Pine 18 Mile - Long Lake Thats all I know. I think they call 16 Mile Pontiac Trail | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 2939 Registered: 11-2003 |
See above. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 190 Registered: 01-2007 |
JohnLodge, 16 mi. has never been Pontiac Trail to my knowledge. Big Beaver, Quarton E., Quarton W. (of M-24... or Telegraph/Dixie Hwy.) ends at Inkster. You'd have to jog north to 17-mile, Lone Pine, Wattles, to Middlebelt/Merriman. Then north again on Orchard Lake Rd./Auburn Rd., hit Pontiac Trail, which becomes the M-5 connector past Haggerty Rd. And every one of these politicians had a handshaking ceremony, as they accepted a check for their campaigns and the taxpayers bought new signs for the highway workers to plant in "memory" of "Dicky Do". James "This prestigious award, has been presented to you! Because your belly sticks out further, than your Dickey-Do!" | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 922 Registered: 10-2003 |
My memory (always an iffy thing at best) is telling me there was a "Detroit Industrial Highway". Is that I-96 out by Willow Run? | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 569 Registered: 08-2006 |
^^^I believe you mean I-94 and in parts 94 is/was called the Detroit Industrial Highway. I heard this from a caller on a radio show who remebered a few of the mile roads in Oakland Co. like this. For Maple she took the number of letters in the name and used that as a reference to 15. For Big Beaver she just used Beaver which has 6 letters for 16. Wattles=17 Long Lake=18 Square Lake=19. I never noticed that before. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 308 Registered: 02-2007 |
Re: Rosa Parks Blvd... Anyone else here remember the Detroit-area college prof who would quip to Ms. Parks (or so he joked in his story/lecture) that if she had planned he bus protest for a bus caught on the street named after her she would STILL BE WAITING for the damn bus to even arrive? Not sure if the story is true, but it was pretty funny and the premise is right on. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2139 Registered: 10-2003 |
"hit Pontiac Trail, which becomes the M-5" Pontiac Trail never becomes M-5. Pontiac Trail starts at Orchard Lake Road, then continues through Walled Lake. M-5 has it's Northern terminus at Pontiac Trail (for now). It hits Pontiac Trail perpendicular. BTW I may have been the first civilian on M-5 extension, as I snuck my car onto it from the 12-Mile to 696/M-5 Ramp before it was open one night, headed North and opened it up. But you are right, Pontiac Trail isn't 16 Mile. Some folks out that way do call Walnut Lake Road 16 Mile, but that is pretty much just a local thing, since Walnut only runs from Inkster to Haggerty. | ||
Dannaroo Member Username: Dannaroo Post Number: 146 Registered: 05-2006 |
quote: I know that the U.S. Census Bureau's LUCA and Tiger programs still list the portions of I-94 from the Dearborn/Detroit border west to at least the Washtenaw County Border as "Detroit Industrial Expressway" in their records. I-75 south from the Detroit/Lincoln Park border is listed as the "Detroit Toldeo Freeway." | ||
Chris_rohn Member Username: Chris_rohn Post Number: 326 Registered: 04-2005 |
Pontiac Trail goes all the way to Ann Arbor. | ||
Aarne_frobom Member Username: Aarne_frobom Post Number: 62 Registered: 10-2005 |
Some details about Michigan highway naming: The 1942 freeway from Detroit to Willow Run was originally named the Detroit Industrial Expressway. Apparently the abbreviation DIE never bothered anybody. The name still appears on a few maps of the segment of I-94 west of the part that is named the Edsel Ford. In the 1950's, the segment of 15 Mile Rd. in Clinton Township was locally known as Wolf Road. Around 1998 or so the naming of state highways (other than the freeways officially named by MDOT) was systematized when the state legislature began commemorating so many people, groups and causes with "memorial highways" that some segments were acquiring two or even three competing designations. A historic list was compiled for the first time by MDOT, and the requirement was instituted that new names not overwrite old ones, although existing multiple designations still stand. A bill was passed requiring the naming signs to be paid for with private contributions, lest legislators erect what are basically billboards for favorite groups at taxpayer expense. None of this affects official local street names for state highways (Gratiot, Woodward, et c.). The bill overwriting the Jeffries Freeway name with the Coleman Young Memorial Highway was, for one reason or another, never taken up by the legislature. Now, who knows what we call the Earle Memorial Highway now, and who Earle was? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2144 Registered: 10-2003 |
MICHIGAN MEMORIAL HIGHWAY ACT (EXCERPT) Act 142 of 2001 250.1006 “Earle Memorial Highway.” Sec. 6. Highway M-53 extending from the city of Detroit north to M-25 in Huron county shall be known as the “Earle Memorial Highway”. History: 2001, Act 142, Imd. Eff. Oct. 26, 2001 | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2145 Registered: 10-2003 |
"The freeway portion of M-53 is officially known as the Christopher Columbus Freeway, but it is more commonly called either the Van Dyke Expressway, Van Dyke Freeway or M-53 Freeway. The remaining southerly portion carries the name Van Dyke Avenue and is also known as the Earle Memorial Highway, in honor of Horatio Earle, Michigan's first Highway Commissioner. Beyond the southern terminus of M-53, the roadway continues on as a residential street known as Van Dyke Street until it ends at Jefferson Avenue near the Detroit River." That one's from Wikipedia, so who knows. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1184 Registered: 11-2003 |
Horatio Earle, Michigan's first Highway Commissioner. Van Dyke Expressway? | ||
Dustin89 Member Username: Dustin89 Post Number: 123 Registered: 07-2006 |
Jrvass said: You see it in the cities too. Oakland Ave. becomes AKA Cesar Chavez Blvd. in Pontiac. E. Blvd.... MLK. Wide Track becomes Woodward, Woodward becomes the "Loop". How long ago was the name "East Boulevard" changed to "Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard"? An older woman mentioned to me that it used to be East Blvd, and I had never heard that before. I'm pretty sure Wide Track Drive was renamed the Woodward "Loop" b/c Pontiac Motors had withdrawn from the city and the city did not want to keep the name in place. That was changed just a few years back. Going southbound from Waterford, I believe the current lineup is Dixie Hwy. turns into Cesar Chavez which turns into Oakland Avenue for a brief time which turns into Saginaw St. Whew! | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2169 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here's some directions to get you around the lakes area: From Pontiac Trail, take Green Lake road North. Turn right on Green Lake road. Don't go straight, that is not Green Lake Road. Follow that to Commerce Road and turn left. When you get to the intersection of Commerce Road and Commerce road, turn right onto Commerce road. Don't to straight, that is Sleeth. At the next intersection, turn left onto Commerce road. Do not continue straight, as that is Caroll Lake road. When you get into Milford, turn left off Commerce Road onto Commerce Road. Don't go straight, as that is Summit Street. Curve around to the right onto Commerce Road. Don't go straight, as that is Crystal St. Continue on to the GM Proving grounds! | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5256 Registered: 08-2004 |
One of the longest actually named street in Michigan is Grand River Ave. It starts in Detroit at Harmonie Park and continues to the city limits of Grand Rapids. It changes name there to Concord Ave., probably because there's another Grand River Ave. within their city limits. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2171 Registered: 10-2003 |
One sees a lot of Dixie Highways as you drive south down I-75. Were all those Dixie Highways part of the same road system, or is that just a popular name? Many of them are North of the Mason-Dixon line. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1943 Registered: 11-2003 |
I hope Monica Conyers has not read this thread. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 192 Registered: 01-2007 |
Dustin89, East Blvd. became MLK perhaps 20 years ago? Although you may see signs saying East Blvd. here & their or both names. JohnLodge, you are correct. Pontiac Trail does continue on past M-5, but to Ann Arbor like Chris_rohn says. I remember taking it back home once from Reggae Night at the UM student union once. I was so high I'm surprised my tires touched the ground! I could've floated home. Commerce road is a classic FUBAR. The only thing possibly worse is the rat's maze they call Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. And it get's the honors only because they are tearing down the old Kmart Headquarters. Who was the Lions coach who said he spent 1/2 a day driving around the Lakes area of Oakland County trying to find his new house after team practice at the Silverdome? . . . . . A. Bobby Ross! James | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2174 Registered: 10-2003 |
We used to say they lit a cow's behind on fire, and wherever it ran became Commerce Road. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 194 Registered: 01-2007 |
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Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 571 Registered: 08-2006 |
M29 from I94 to Algonac a 19 mile route: 23 Mile Rd. In Chesterfield Twp, Green St. In New Baltimore, Dixie Hwy in Ira Twp. Dyke Road from Copeland Corner to Pearl Beach, Pointe Aux Tremble from Pearl Beach to ALgonac. St Clair River Dr in Algonac! Not to mention the name changes from Algonac to Port Huron! MAny road I believe have been re-alligned over the years and connect roads that used to not be direct intersections. Another route in Chesterfield is Sugarbush Rd as it winds north from 21 Mile. It turns from Sugarbush to CAllens and Sugarbush makes a right angle away. At 23 Mile when you cross it is then Baker Rd. to Washington. Callens used to connect to Sugarbush elsewhere years ago and Baker/Callens were about 500 feet apart at 23 Mile and the county routed Callens to Baker to make an intersection out of the two roads. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 923 Registered: 10-2003 |
JohnLodge... .....I think (again another risky undertaking on my part) you are correct. Try this: www.us-highways.com/dixiehwy.h tm We have a similar situation out here in the Pacific Northleft where parts of U.S. 2 are called The Sunset Highway in areas of Washington, Idaho and Montana, although it was never designated as such nationally. I assume U.S. 30 is still called by oldtimers (me, for example) the Lincoln Highway. There are many other examples in our pre-Interstate highway system.... | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2187 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hey that's really cool. It's sort of a "Route 66" with parts of it still existing, and other parts now Interstates and avenues. | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 572 Registered: 08-2006 |
I know the Dixie Hwy issue was discussed before I believe they are related to the booze trade during Prohibition... |
