I-696 Location Alternatives - What Could Have Been

[Scottathew]

I got my hands on a 1963 Michigan State Highway Department publication titled, "A Planning and Engineering Analysis of the Location and Design Alternatives Considered; Interstate 696".

The book details the most serious alternative contenders, which included an "11 Mile Alignment" and a "10 Mile Alignment". What we ultimately got was a blend of both. This was done in order to avoid existing commerce areas.

I'm going to post some images from the book, some highlights of what could have been.

Let's start with the "11 Mile Alignment" and how I-696 could have intersected with I-75. The picture from the book below shows a residential neighborhood in Royal Oak and Madison Heights just north of 11 Mile centered on Stephenson Highway.

Note the left-hand exit and entrance within the interchange and how it's not a traditional four level stack level stack like we have today.

From the book: [[Full Resolution Click Here)


What exists today: [[Click here for map)



I also found it interesting that the book reference "DeQuindre" road many times. Does anyone know if it was actually spelled with a capital 'Q'? And if so, when did we change it to a lower-case 'q'?

If folks find this stuff interesting, I'll post more from the book.

[Willi]

Quindre :

http://www.mytrees.com/ancestry/Mich...1929-8551.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=mp4...chigan&f=false

[Scottathew]

Quindre :

http://www.mytrees.com/ancestry/Mich...1929-8551.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=mp4...chigan&f=false

Thanks! A possible origin for the road. I just find it interesting that the spelling has changed in the last 50 years. I wonder if there was some kind of official switch-over to the new spelling, or was it just kind of organic and people start spelling it without a capital 'Q' because they always saw it as all caps on the street sign.

[EastsideAl]

696 was only built after a huge protracted fight of several years duration over those very alignments. Different municipalities, different constituencies, and different commercial groups all had their reasons why it couldn't go down one or another Mile Rd. And then there was the wetlands, the zoo, the orthodox Jewish community, etc. I remember the rancorous debates in Oakland and Macomb County politics.

In the end it was kind of amazing it got built at all. 696 was, of course, the last major expressway project in this area. A few years later, after the public tide had turned decisively against freeway construction [[at least freeway construction anywhere near them), and it might never have been built at all.

[iheartthed]

696 was only built after a huge protracted fight of several years duration over those very alignments. Different municipalities, different constituencies, and different commercial groups all had their reasons why it couldn't go down one or another Mile Rd. And then there was the wetlands, the zoo, the orthodox Jewish community, etc. I remember the rancorous debates in Oakland and Macomb County politics.

In the end it was kind of amazing it got built at all. 696 was, of course, the last major expressway project in this area. A few years later, after the public tide had turned decisively against freeway construction [[at least freeway construction anywhere near them), and it might never have been built at all.

I thought 275 was built after 696?

[Bham1982]

I thought 275 was built after 696?

I believe the last portion of 696 [[the part through Royal Oak and the like) was built well after 275.

[Detroitnerd]

I believe the last portion of 696 [[the part through Royal Oak and the like) was built well after 275.

I remember the first time I rode on 696 was 1989. It seemed newly completed.

[nain rouge]

Boy, and where would we be without 696?

[mtburb]

I remember the first time I rode on 696 was 1989. It seemed newly completed.

This was because the portion of I-696 between I-75 and M-10 opened in December 1989, while I-275 was completed in 1977.

EDIT: 48307, when you have time, you can download JOSM [[a program intended to be an external Openstreetmap editor), download areas along the alignments proposed in the book from the OSM server onto the program, recreate what the book shows, not upload the results onto the OSM server and post screenshots.

[Don K]

I believe the last portion of 696 [[the part through Royal Oak and the like) was built well after 275.

Yep. 275 was complete when I moved to the area in 78. Wikipedia says the stretch from Telegraph near Monroe to Ford Road was the last part finished and opened in January, 77. 696 between the Lodge and 75 opened in December 89. Between 96 and the Lodge opened in 63-64, and 75 to 94 opened in January 79.

I remember the opening of the Lodge to 75 segment after all of the wrangling over the alignment, and the relief felt by state officials that the Interstate highways in MI had finally been completed [[less the extension of 275 to 75 near Davisburg).

[DTWflyer]

Well that alignment would've been a disaster.

That isn't a true 11 mile alignment, its more like an 11 1/4 alignment. Interesting as that would've probably decimated many neighborhoods in Royal Oak.

Plus that interchange would've never worked with today's traffic volume. All those silly left-hand ramps and curves seemed good in theory, but would be terrible in reality.

[Scottathew]

Interesting as that would've probably decimated many neighborhoods in Royal Oak.

The actual interchange that was built, along with many parts of I-696 decimated many neighborhoods. The present day I-75\I-696 interchange was a completely built out neighborhood.

[detroittrader]

Interesting thread, thanks for posting this.


My grandparents lived at the corner of Connecticut and University in Royal Oak for 74 years. That would be just to the left of this map. This alternate plan would have put their house in the middle of the freeway. Our family would have had a different life experience for sure. Crazy.

[Gistok]

I remember as a kid driving with my parents to their friends house in Warren... this was circa 1964... and I vividly remember that 2 lane 11 Mile road was devoid of houses anywhere near the street. It looked like there were wide weed filled fields on either side of 11 Mile Rd., with homes and subdivisions quite some distance from 11 Mile.

So the eastern end of I-696 was already cast in stone via home and business removal by the mid 1960s.

[Hermod]

One of the alignments would have virtually wiped out the city of Pleasant Ridge.

[Scottathew]

What Could Have Been - Downtown Berkley, Oak Park, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak, and Pleasant Ridge

The below map includes both the "10 Mile Alternative" and the "11 Mile Alternative" with several sub-alternatives.

Some things of note in this map:

- Two 11 Mile sub-alternatives go around 11 Mile between Greenfield and Coolidge.
- The 11 Mile Alternative has I-696 interchanging with Woodward at 11 1/4 Mile.
- There is a ruled-out 10 Mile sub-alternative [[the short-dash line) that would have cut away a good chunk of the zoo.
- The 11 Mile Alternative at 696 and Woodward included an interchange with ramps for NB to WB and WB to NB

10 Mile and 11 Mile Alternatives from Greenfield to Campbell: [[Click here for larger image)


I-696 11 Mile Alternative at Woodward: [[Click here for larger image)

[Mikeg]

I'd be interested in seeing the 10 Mile alignment proposal for the section from Mound to Van Dyke.

[Scottathew]

I'd be interested in seeing the 10 Mile alignment proposal for the section from Mound to Van Dyke.

I plan on doing Macomb County on Friday and Monday. It takes me a little bit of time to do all the editing and such for each post while I'm "working".

[Scottathew]

What Could Have Been - Macomb County, I-94, and the Mound Interchange


- The 1963 plans make no mention of a transition from the 10 Mile alignment to the 11 Mile alignment at Dequindre, which is what we have today
- In the 1963 plan, the Mound Road interchange was a cloverleaf at both the 11 Mile and 10 Mile alignment [[well, 10.5 Mile)
- The 10 Mile alignment was actually a 10.5 Mile alignment from Dequindre to Hoover, presumably to save downtown Center Line.
- The 11 Mile Alignment from Van Dyke to I-94 stays very true to 11 Mile, with the majority of ROW acquisition on the north side of 11 Mile
- The 10 Mile Alignment from Hoover to I-94 stays very true to 10 Mile, with the majority of ROW acquisition on the north side of 11 Mile

East-side Overview from Dequindre to Hoover


East-side Overview from Hoover to Kelly


I-94 Overview


I-94 10 Mile Alignment


Mound 10 Mile Alignment


Mound 11 Mile Alignment




If anyone has any questions or wants me to grab shots of a certain area, please let me know. I will only have the book for about another week and then I must return it.

Enjoy!

[Mikeg]

What Could Have Been - Macomb County, I-94, and the Mound Interchange


- The 1963 plans make no mention of a transition from the 10 Mile alignment to the 11 Mile alignment at Dequindre, which is what we have today
- In the 1963 plan, the Mound Road interchange was a cloverleaf at both the 11 Mile and 10 Mile alignment [[well, 10.5 Mile)
- The 10 Mile alignment was actually a 10.5 Mile alignment from Dequindre to Hoover, presumably to save downtown Center Line.
- The 11 Mile Alignment from Van Dyke to I-94 stays very true to 11 Mile, with the majority of ROW acquisition on the north side of 11 Mile
- The 10 Mile Alignment from Hoover to I-94 stays very true to 10 Mile, with the majority of ROW acquisition on the north side of 11 Mile

Thanks for these latest images!

[ekurpis]

To 48307: Could you possibly post a clearer picture of the portion of this plan that shows what happens in Center Line under Alignment 2? I can't seem to read street names here and I am very curious about what would have happened in my neighborhood. Thanks!

[Scottathew]

To 48307: Could you possibly post a clearer picture of the portion of this plan that shows what happens in Center Line under Alignment 2? I can't seem to read street names here and I am very curious about what would have happened in my neighborhood. Thanks!

But of course. Here you go!

Center Line - "10 Mile Alternative" - Click here for Larger Picture

[248lurker]

As the final leg between I-75 and the Lodge Freeway was being constructed, I thought my parents mentioned that one proposed alignment would go slightly north of 10 Mile and cross Woodward at Harrison and go just north of the Zoo, presumably along Huntington and Ludlow in Huntington Woods.

Some of these proposed alignments are interesting. It's interesting trying to imagine some of those interchanges and how they'd look today if these alternates were constructed.

[softailrider]

696 really screwed up the front 9 at Rackham Golf Course. They changed it a lot putting in doglegs on a few holes. The back nine is the same but the front 9 isn't as much fun as it used to be.

[Scottathew]

A friend of mine brought the below to my attention.

Just WOW, imagine:

- Grand River as a freeway
- Mound Road as a freeway down to I-94
- The Davison connecting I-96, M-10, I-75, Mound Road Freeway, and I-94 [[on the eastside), and Vernor Highway [[as a freeway)
- Vernor Highway as a redundant freeway to I-94

Image link: https://detroitography.files.wordpre...d-highways.jpg