Mound Road Question

[leady106]

Does anyone know why Mound Road in Detroit was designed to be an extra wide boulevard? I wonder if there was originally planned as a more major route toward downtown? One side [[west) of the Road faces houses while the east side faces the back of garages off of alleys behind a narrow strip of land directly adjacent to the road.

[Detroitnerd]

Wasn't it supposed to be a freeway?

[eastland]

It was intended to be a freeway; here is narrative from michiganhighways.org:

While the original Davison Expwy constructed in the 1940s only ran a short distance, as the Detroit area expressway system was being proposed and laid out during the 1950s and 1960s, the tiny Davison was destined to become part of a much longer freeway. Plans had been seriously considered to extend the Davison westerly to the proposed Jeffries Expwy at US-16/Grand River Ave, then westerly along Schoolcraft Ave into Livonia, as well as extending the freeway easterly to Mt Elliot Ave and looping around City Airport and down to the proposed "Crosstown Expwy," which is now I-94/Edsel Ford Frwy. As some of the originally proposed routes were gradually excluded, the Davison was to run westerly to hook into a realigned Jeffries Frwy and easterly to the proposed Mound Freeway, running north-south along Mound Rd from the Edsel Ford in Detroit to the M-53 freeway in Sterling Heights. The I-96/Jeffries and I-696/Walter P Reuther Freeways were even built with these connections in mind. Construction on the Davison never progressed east of Conant or west of the Lodge, so today the Davison Frwy is a short [[less than 3-miles long) freeway in the heart of Metro Detroit.

[dtowncitylover]

...so today the Davison Frwy is a short [[less than 3-miles long) freeway in the heart of Metro Detroit.

...and the biggest waste of concrete and taxpayer's dollars in the world.

[Detroitnerd]

...and the biggest waste of concrete and taxpayer's dollars in the world.

I dunno. I'm no freeway-lover, and I still say it's the fastest way to get from the east side to the west side, and vice versa.

[Norwalk]

If you live in Hamtramck you use Mound all the time to get to points north

[rooms222]

...and the biggest waste of concrete and taxpayer's dollars in the world.

According to MDCH, the freeway portion of the Davison has traffic counts similar to Telegraph Rd. and 8 Mile Rd. in Detroit.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/detmetro_19640_7.pdf

Also, it serves as an important connecter beween 75, the Lodge, and I-96 when accidents shut one of them down [[as well as an alternative when I-94 is closed or congested, as it is much of the time).

[Hamtragedy]

If you live in Hamtramck you use Mound all the time to get to points north

But damn, is it bumpy

[Wesley Mouch]

...The I-96/Jeffries and I-696/Walter P Reuther Freeways were even built with these connections in mind...

They didn't just have them in mind, but they built the intersections.

There's a diagram of all these freeways in the 1951 City of Detroit Master Plan.

[Hornwrecker]

HOF thread: 1945 Expressway Planning

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1160845287

[Mikeg]

Discuss Detroit HoF thread from April 2005:
"Detroit Expressway Planning circa 1945"

Hornwrecker beat me to it!

[dtowncitylover]

I dunno. I'm no freeway-lover, and I still say it's the fastest way to get from the east side to the west side, and vice versa.

So then why was 94 the "Crosstown" Expressway...?

But I should shut up, 'cause I wouldn't mind a "Rochester Freeway" between 75 and M59.

[CLAUDE G]

The Davidson freeway just got refinished at Conant. For years it looked unfished and was ready for expansion any minutes. I guess they finally gave up and just made 2 big enterance and exit ramps instead.

[Gistok]

The Conner/I-94 interchange, which is unique among east side I-94 interchanges... was supposed to have been the eastern terminus of the Davison Freeway.

[Detroitnerd]

So then why was 94 the "Crosstown" Expressway...?

But I should shut up, 'cause I wouldn't mind a "Rochester Freeway" between 75 and M59.

Well, if you are around Dexter-Davison and trying to get to Hamtramck, there's no straight shot for you but Davison. Frankly, I'm no fan of the bulldozer, as it has been so overused in town, but Detroit has never had a surfeit of crosstown thoroughfares. It has to do with the way the French ribbon farms were all oriented toward the river and developed bit by bit, leaving lots of intersections off-beam and too many streets running uptown-downtown.

By the 1930s, they had conceived Davison, IIRC.

By the 1940s, they had conceived the Ford Fwy.

By the 1960s, they had run 75 through old Vernor Hwy. [[fmly. High St.)

By the 1970s, they had bulldozed Mack through to Myrtle.

We could probably still use a few more crosstown thoroughfares. If we added a light rail component, we could probably do it without widening streets and destroying too many existing buildings.

[EastsideAl]

By the 1960s, they had run 75 through old Vernor Hwy. [[fmly. High St.)

And Vernor Highway itself was conceived as a fast crosstown route for car traffic in the 1920s - cobbled together out of existing streets [[Dix, High, Waterloo) and newly built linking sections, like the one that runs in front of Michigan Central and into the tunnel under the tracks.

[Wintersmommy]

If you live in Hamtramck you use Mound all the time to get to points north

or if you live in Warren you use Mound all the time to get to points in the south..or at least I use it everyday to get to work

[Pingu]

Wasn't it supposed to be a freeway?

Mound Road was intended as an alternative when too many people were hopping on Big Beaver.

[Hermod]

Mound Road was intended as an alternative when too many people were hopping on Big Beaver.

Mound Road was a four lane divided highway out to 14 Mile when Big Beaver was a two lane gravel road.

[Pingu]

Mound Road was a four lane divided highway out to 14 Mile when Big Beaver was a two lane gravel road.

Yer kidding me, right? Anyhow, good to hear from you, big guy. Anybody went to Vietnam's OK in my book. Salutations!

[rooms222]

The defense work during WWII caused Mound to be 4 laned, I believe. In fact during WWII, there was 24 hour City of Detroit bus service all the way to 12 mile road [[1 bus per minute during rush hour!) on Mound.

http://www.detroittransithistory.inf.../Holbrook.html

[EastsideAl]

Mound Road was a four lane divided highway out to 14 Mile when Big Beaver was a two lane gravel road.

Here's a 1930 aerial photo from the Wayne St. Virtual Motor City site showing a divided Mound Rd. looking north from 8 Mile running off into the still-open Macomb County countryside.

[DTWflyer]

When was the railroad built that goes up the Mound /Van Dyke corridor up to Utica?

Also, when were all of the various GM, Ford, Chrylser plants built along to corridor?

[Mikeg]

When was the railroad built that goes up the Mound /Van Dyke corridor up to Utica?

about 1860 as a strap railroad

Also, when were all of the various GM, Ford, Chrylser plants built along to corridor?

Dodge Truck - 1937
Chrysler Stamping - abt. 1940
Hudson naval armament [[GM Powertrain) - 1940
Ford Sterling - abt.1956

[mikefmich]

Ford Sterling had its roots at 9 & Mound before 17 Mi. Rd., later occupied by Chevy & Hydromatic.

Jones-McLaughlin stainless strip plant was at 8 & Mound, right? Or is my memory getting fuzzy? I worked there........for two days in early '69. I said screw this, there has gotta be better places to work.