James Couzen Highway

[Dexlin]

I had some questions concerning the old James Couzen Highway - the at-grade divided parkway that was eventually subsumed by the Lodge - that ran from Wyoming northwest to 8 Mile. There is an old thread in the archives on this, but the thread doesn't answer exactly what I'm looking for. I thought you guys might be able to help.

1. What year did the James Couzen begin construction and when was it finished? Are there any street-level photos of it online showing how it looked? The old thread has a small aerial shot showing its terminus looking southeast at Wyoming, but that's about it.

2. I guess the Lodge was built up to it sometime in the 50's or 60's [[not sure when it was connected before the Lodge eventually entranched it), but did the Lodge empty right onto the highway [[or vice versa) at the Wyoming intersection, or was there a oh-so-slightly more elaborate interchange with the at-grade highway? How long did this interchange exist before they entrenched the James Couzen?

Thanks in advance.

[preserve]

Worked for a small business located on James Couzens @ Meyers in 1960-61 - ate lunch at a Boesky's that was also on James Couzens. Must have been after that time that the Lodge
came through, in 1970 I worked for another business on Meyer near Fenkell and by then
it seemed it was just the service drive, the business that I had previously worked at was gone and I think even Boesky's was closed. I remember a bar/restaurant on the other side of the Lodge with a French name, Que Pas? maybe.

[Dexlin]

Yeah, I've been able to gather that much, that the Lodge was largely completed within Detroit proper by the mid-60's. What I'm particularly interested in is how long did the James Couzen exists before it was tied into the Lodge project, and exactly how did the Lodge and Couzen meet at or near Wyoming immediately prior to said tie-in?

[masterblaster]

Dexlin, it is amazing that there is so little information and photos out there about the James Couzens Parkway. I would be very, very interested to see what it looked like before it became a freeway [[and why was it even designed and built in the first place). The James Couzens Service Drive is mostly lined with mid-century commercial buildings - is that how James Couzens Parkway was originally developed?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

There were a lot of businesses along James Couzens during the 50's and 60's. I recall a Howard Johnson's at the corner of Pembroke and James Couzens that I believe is still there.

[animatedmartian]

I've found on historical road maps of Wayne and Oakland County that show Northwestern Highway was an early "super highway" laid down something between 1915 and 1925. At the same time, Woodward was being widened into a "super highway" and Telegraph was just being proposed. Many other super highways were proposed, such as Stephenson Super Highway, Northeastern Super Highway [[both later replaced by I-75), and Sunset Boulevard [[would have started at 8 Mile and Wyoming and gone parallel to Northwestern Highway until Telegraph in Bloomfield Township) but of course were never built. These were essentially pre-war expressways and is why roads like Telegraph, 8 Mile, Woodward, etc., are so massive outside of the city limits. They were built to support the growing auto-oriented suburbs [[although, I don't know if they were necessarily meant to be high speed routes, they're certainly high capacity).

Back to the route in question. Maps show a proposed Northwestern Highway extending well into West Bloomfield through to Commerce Township, Highland Township, Rose Township and eventually extending to Livingston and Genesee County, presumably ending at US-23 [[although I didn't find any maps of either counties for that time period). However, by 1947, it only got completed to Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield.

Apparently, the Lodge aka M-10 would have be a completion of this route during the 1950s and 60s, going from Wyoming in Detroit to US-23 near Fenton. Of course, I-75 and the proposed I-275 [[which would have continued north of 696 to meet with 75) made that route redundant and so the Lodge ends at 696 with the left over section of Northwestern Highway carrying the M-10 designation. Of course, 275 was never completed past 696 so now that whole part of the metro is just freewayless.

Anyway, here are some pictures I've found of Northwestern Highway:

Northwestern Highway at Outer Drive, 1958.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_frenkel/6938587779/

Northwestern Highway through Northwest Detroit 1930s [[freshly built).

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...y=1;view=image

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...y=1;view=image

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...y=1;view=image

Northwestern Highway extending into Oakland County, 1930s.

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...y=1;view=image

[Dexlin]

Thanks, animatedmartian. Those photos and your commentary answer my first question pretty well. However, you say it was laid sometimes between 1915 and 1925 in the first part of your post, but then show photos of it "freshly built" in the 30's. This is all the James Couzen portion we're talking about, right? So, which time period was it built? I'm only interested in the highway within the city of Detroit proper [[where it's named the James Couzen).

I look forward to see if anyone can come up with any information on my second question of when and how it was connected with the Lodge at Wyoming before it was ultimately entrenched.

I've always been interested in the history of this area as I had relative who lived off the Lodge near its intersection with 7 Mile, and other's near Wyoming. Anyway, thanks again for the old aerials. I'm a bit surprised at how huge that median is. To be honest, it looks like quite a waste of space.

EDIT: I went to that site you linked to to look up some photos, and it seems the highway [[in Detroit proper) was still under construction in 1930:

[Dexlin]

More photos from the WSU Virtual Motor City Collection:

James Couzen looking east over 6 Mile - November 15, 1929



And, here's a map that you were alluding to showing some plans for freeways. I'm guessing this is from the 1950's?



It appears that the Lodge was built slightly past Wyoming up to that point, which I imagine means that the entire interchange with Wyoming had been completed.

[animatedmartian]

The road maps I was looking at had James Couzens already mapped in 1925 so I had assumed to was roughly around that time it was built.

These are the maps I was referring to.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/...1925/Michigan/

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/...1936/Michigan/

James Couzens doesn't show up on any other dated maps prior.

As for the interchange with Wyoming, here's what I found through DTE's historical aerial photos. For starters, here's the terminus in 1952. As you can see, there is no freeway construction yet.

Attachment 23775

By 1956, the Lodge appears to be connected with James Couzens. I can't tell but it looks like the freeway comes up to grade at the curve.

Attachment 23772

By 1961, most of the route still looks at-grade. It's kind of hard to tell with the contrast of the photo, but that looks like an at-grade intersection with Puritan.

Attachment 23773

By 1967, it's definitely sub-grade by this point.

Attachment 23774

Does that help answer you question?

[EastsideAl]

I'm a bit surprised at how huge that median is. To be honest, it looks like quite a waste of space.

It was originally intended, I believe, to have an interurban line running up that median. Several of these wide suburban highways, like Stephenson Hwy. in Oakland County, actually had interurbans running up the middle. However, the depression and the spread of auto commuting and travel [[ironically helped along by these very highways) killed of the interurbans by the mid-1930s.

[EastsideAl]

The James Couzens section of the freeway seems to have been opened in stages in 1963 and 64. As I remember, the business owners along James Couzens tried for several years to stop or change the project, and finally were able to get the freeway built in a vertical trench in the median, preserving the original street and business buildings on both sides.

Here is a page with pictures of the building of the Lodge Fwy., including pictures of the Wyoming curve when the freeway emptied directly onto James Couzens.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...48&postcount=1

[Dexlin]

Thanks to everyone. Yes, this essentially answers all my questions.

So, James Couzen Highway was built around 1930 as a divided, at-grade highway. It lasted in this state for approximately 25 years until the Lodge was built up to it by the mid-50's. Between then and the early-to-mid-60's, the Lodge was built in the median and the existing lanes of the highway turned into service drives.

What else this got me thinking about was the age of the homes taken out in the section immediately east of Wyoming back to Linwood. This section doesn't appear to have been routed along an existing surface street, which was often the way things were done. If the freeway was already up to this area by the mid-50's, the age of the homes in this area couldn't have been much more than two decades, and it appears that the freeway and its service drives took out about half a block north-to-south between Keeler and Midland.

[EastsideAl]

That area east of Wyoming was mostly built up during the boom years of the 1920s. The depression and WWII slowed development considerably though, which is why the areas to the north and west have much newer homes. The Lodge through that section was routed down the right-of-way of Keeler St., which was a block north of Fenkell and became the south service drive. So, yes, it took out about half a block of houses to the north.

I believe that the freeway was originally supposed to be routed down Fenkell itself, as it had been routed down Hamilton further to the south. But the business and building owners along Fenkell resisted, much as the ones on Harper did to the Ford Fwy.'s original routing. And it was cheaper anyway to buy and take out the houses than the then-thriving business section along Fenkell.

[Ray1936]

I'd like to add that there were magnificent elm trees on the center boulevard of James Couzens before it was changed to the Lodge Freeway. Easily fifty feet high. They took those trees down one at a time by a bulldozer scooping a huge swath of earth from the north side of the tree, going around to the south, and just pushing them over. Then the guys with the chain saws got to work. I remember taking my two-year old son [[now 55!) in the area to watch those dozers. Of course, Dutch Elm disease would have taken them down anyway in a few years.

[Dexlin]

I'd like to add that there were magnificent elm trees on the center boulevard of James Couzens before it was changed to the Lodge Freeway. Easily fifty feet high. They took those trees down one at a time by a bulldozer scooping a huge swath of earth from the north side of the tree, going around to the south, and just pushing them over. Then the guys with the chain saws got to work. I remember taking my two-year old son [[now 55!) in the area to watch those dozers. Of course, Dutch Elm disease would have taken them down anyway in a few years.

That's interesting. The aerials the animatedmartian posted up top show the trees must have been added right before the Couzen was entrenched, because you can see the elms in the 1956 aerial. It seems odd they'd add more trees right before this thing was turned into a freeway, especially since by the 50's it was pretty clear the city was going to route the Lodge along the Couzen.

Though we lost the Couzen so as to more easily facilitate sprawl to the northwest, I'm heartened if things go right that we're talking about turning I-375 downtown into a tree-lined boulevard.

[bc_n_dtown]

I ran across this James Couzens Hwy photo online a few years ago. I believe it came from a booklet published by the Wayne County Road Commission. No description was given other than the location being James Couzens Superhighway in Detroit. Of course that wasn't enough for me and I was determined to find out where it was taken.

After viewing past and current aerial images, I've concluded that the photo appears to look northwestward along James Couzens Highway at Hartwell, just south of Curtis, where the roadway then makes a slight curve to the left. There are two Detroit locations where this occurs - the other being at Puritan, where the turn is not as sharp. I believe the pre-1960s DTE aerial photos tend to support the Curtis location, with the photo being taken before the postwar housing boom.

If anyone thinks this might be another location let me know what you think.

[animatedmartian]

Maaaaaaaaaaaan. What a wide road. What's that, 4 lanes? Then again, there's about a dozen other roads around Metro Detroit built in that width. Nothing says 'drive your car here' like wide open roads.

I think that is the curve at Curtis.

[volksnut]

Well I'm originally from Detroit so I thought it was really cool to pick up this old vacuum gauge made in Detroit in 1957. I did a search on this business and that's what brought me to this web site and this topic. The company was Motor-Chex and was located at 18141 James Couzen Highway, a bit off topic but I thought someone would think it was cool....is the building still there?

[bc_n_dtown]

Volksnut ,
I looked up the address on Google Maps and it shows 18141 James Couzens being just south of Curtis, btwn Curtis and Hartwell. Coincidently, that building would later be constructed at the far left in the b&w photo above.

Today, the only building on that block fronting JC is Full Gospel Christian Church, a storefront church at 18101 James Couzens, which was probably next door to Motor-Chex. The rest of that block now serves as a parking lot for a dialysis clinic that fronts Schaefer, the street behind.

[Wesley Mouch]

That's interesting. The aerials the animatedmartian posted up top show the trees must have been added right before the Couzen was entrenched, because you can see the elms in the 1956 aerial. It seems odd they'd add more trees right before this thing was turned into a freeway, especially since by the 50's it was pretty clear the city was going to route the Lodge along the Couzen.

Though we lost the Couzen so as to more easily facilitate sprawl to the northwest, I'm heartened if things go right that we're talking about turning I-375 downtown into a tree-lined boulevard.

Well, it certainly did facilitate sprawl, but the motivation was congestion. I don't remember driving on JC, but I do remember driving Grand River in the days when the center lane was a reversible lane that was inbound in the morning [[w/ no left turns) and outbound in the PM [[w/ no left turns). It was a very busy artery pre-Jeffries. I'm sure JC was jam packed before it was 'ditched'.

[Zacha341]

Goodness this stuff brings back memories. I'm just old enough to remember USA-10 being called James 'Cousins' [[incorrect spelling deliberate) and I-96 called 'the Jeffries'!

[Scottathew]

What a fantastically amazing picture!

It looks like an F5 imminent domain tornado ripped through there.

[Ray1936]

For what it's worth, 1916.

[DetroitBoy]

For what it's worth, 1916.

Sounds amazing like what the new police chief is trying to do today! Perhaps Detroit just has crime as part of its DNA.