Grand River Avenue

US Highway 16
US 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MSHD
Length:	210.643 mi (338.997 km)
Existed:	November 11, 1926 (1926-11-11) – 1962 (1962)
History:	Replaced by I-96
Major junctions
West end:	Car ferry docks in Muskegon
	US 31 near Muskegon US 131 in Grand Rapids US 27 in Lansing US 23 near Brighton US 24 in Detroit
East end:	US 10 / US 12 / US 25 / US 112 in Detroit
Location
Counties:	Muskegon, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton, Ingham, Livingston, Oakland, Wayne
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Replaced Michigan State Trunkline Highway System Interstate US State Byways ← M-15 M-17 → ← M-125 M-126 US 127 →

External image

Old Plank Road demolition, facing west in East Lansing near Bailey Street in early 1996

Bypass US Highway 16
Location:	Grand Rapids
Length:	20.197 mi (32.504 km)
Existed:	1942–1953

Business US Highway 16
Location:	Grand Rapids
Length:	17.102 mi (27.523 km)
Existed:	1953–1962

Business US Highway 16
Location:	Farmington
Length:	4.129 mi (6.645 km)
Existed:	1956–1961

US Highway 16 (US 16), also called Grand River Avenue for much of its length in the state, was one of the principal pre-Interstate roads in the state of Michigan. Before the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, the highway had been designated M-16. The modern route of Grand River Avenue cuts across the Lower Peninsula in a northwest–southeast fashion from near Grand Rapids to Detroit. Before the late 1950s and early 1960s, US 16 followed other roads between Muskegon and Grand Rapids, and then Grand River Avenue through Lansing to Detroit. In the years immediately preceding the creation of the Interstate Highway System, US 16 was shifted from older roads to newer freeways. Later, it was co-designated as an Interstate. When the gap in the freeway was filled in around Lansing, the US 16 designation was decommissioned in the state. The freeway was then solely designated Interstate 96 (I-96) east of Grand Rapids and I-196 west of that city.

The original pathway along the Grand River Avenue corridor was an Indian trail, a footpath used by the native population. This trail was later used by the first European settlers to the area now known as Michigan. In Detroit, Grand River is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Michigan, Gratiot, and Jefferson) planned by Judge Augustus Woodward in 1805 that extended from Downtown Detroit in differing directions; Grand River Avenue extends northwesterly from the city's downtown. In the middle of the 19th century, the trail was expanded into a plank road that formed the basis for one of the first state trunkline highways as M-16 in the early 20th century. Later, the highway was rerouted to replace M-126 and create M-104. Current segments of the roadway are still part of the state highway system as sections of M-5, M-11, M-43 or business loops off I-96. The portion of Grand River Avenue in Detroit between I-96 and the intersection with Cass Avenue and Middle Street in Downtown Detroit is an unsigned state trunkline, sometimes referred to as Old Business Spur I-96 (Old BS I-96).