Whats the point of the island on Mound Rd?

[Mikeg]

A professor in college told me that part of MDOT's long term plan was to expand the M59 freeway all the way to 94 eventually. So you'd essentially have a 3 lane service drive on each side of a sunken highway. Seems plausible with the size of the median going to Hall road, but I don't think I've ever seen this in a long term plan. Anyone else ever hear that anywhere?

Yes, that was the original plan, but the City of Utica under the leadership of Mayor Fred Beck during the years 1961 through 1986 successfully defeated that plan. To continue the sunken M-59 highway eastward from the Utica Rd. overpass would have required the acquisition of a 400 foot wide right-of-way that would have wiped out all of the downtown businesses along the south side of Auburn Rd. as well as those on the south side of Hall Rd, east of Van Dyke. Not so co-incidentally, the Mayor's insurance business was located in a building he owned on the south side of Hall Rd. east of Van Dyke that would have been cut in half by the ROW acquisition.

The red lines superimposed on this aerial view of M-59 indicate the approximate location of the 400 ft. wide ROW that would have been needed to continue the M-59 freeway to the east through the City of Utica.