Business routes of Interstate 94 in Michigan
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There are currently eight business routes of Interstate 94 (I-94) in the US state of Michigan. These business routes connect I-94 to the downtown business districts of neighboring cities. These eight routes are all business loops which bear the Business Loop I-94 (BL I-94) designation.
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[edit] Benton Harbor–St. Joseph business loop
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| Location: | Benton Harbor–St. Joseph |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Interstate 94 Business Loop or BL I-94 is a 10.7-mile (17.2 km)[1] state trunkline highway looping from the I-94 freeway through the downtowns of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. It primarily follows a former routing of US Highway 12 (US 12) through the area. The highway begins at exit 23 on I-94 in Lincoln Township where it runs along Lakeshore Drive. passing through the community of Shoreham. It briefly runs concurrently with M-63 along Main Street in downtown St. Joseph before crossing the St. Joseph River on Ship Street to Benton Harbor. From there it follows Main Street through downtown Benton Harbor to the eastern terminus at Exit 33 on I-94/US 31 in Benton Township.
The business loop was commissioned on November 17, 1960.[1]
[edit] Kalamazoo business loop
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| Location: | Kalamazoo |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Interstate 94 Business Loop or BL I-94 is a Michigan highway looping for 11.21 miles (18.04 km)[1] from the I-94 freeway through downtown Kalamazoo. It partially follows the routing of a former BUS US 12. The highway begins at Exit 74 on I-94 in Portage where it runs concurrent with US 131 until it intersects with BUS US 131 (Stadium Drive) at exit 36 in Oshtemo Township. From there it follows BUS US 131 and M-43 through downtown Kalamazoo. At an interstection between BL I-94/M-43 (Kalamazoo Avenue) and King Highway, BL I-94 turns along King Highway to its eastern terminus at I-94's exit 81.
BL I-94 is freeway from the western terminus concurrent with US 131 to the western junction with BUS US 131, and it is expressway from the eastern terminus northwesterly to the corner of King Highway and Amvets Memorial Parkway in Kalamazoo at a junction with M-96 (OLD US 12).
On December 7, 1959, the I-94/US 12 freeway is opened on the south side of Kalamazoo. This marks the beginning of BUS US 12 in the Kalamazoo area, The highway was routed along the former US 12 on Stadium Drive to a junction with M-43 (Michigan Avenue), BUS US 12 then followed Michigan Avenue to King Highway back to I-94/US 12. BUS US 12 is signed temporarily along 9th Street in Oshtemo from Stadium Drive southerly to I-94/US 12 starting on January 6, 1960. Later in 1960, BUS US 12 is redesignated as BL I-94 in preparation to move the US 12 designation to the US 112 corridor.
On December 16, 1963, the US 131 freeway was opened on the west side of Kalamazoo. Along with the creation of BUS US 131 along a portion of the BL I-94 routing, BL I-94 was rerouted along the US 131 freeway on the west end back to I-94. The section of Stadium Drive west of US 131 and the 9th Street routing was removed from BL I-94.
Kalamazoo and the newly built Michikal avenues were transferred to state jurisdiction on October 4, 1965. To smooth out traffic patterns downtown, Michikal Avenue was built as a connector between Kalamazoo and Michigan avenues. Kalamazoo and Michigan avenues are used as a pair of one-way streets downtown. Kalamazoo and Michikal were then signed as westbound BL I-94 from Stadium Drive to Michigan Avenue while Main Street and Michigan Avenue continue to serve eastbound traffic.
[edit] Battle Creek business loop
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| Location: | Battle Creek |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Business Loop Interstate 94 is a highway looping from the I-94 freeway through the downtown Battle Creek. It follows the routing of a former BUS US 12. It is 13.60 miles (21.89 km) long.[1]
The highway begins at exit 92 on I-94 where it runs concurrent with M-37 until the intersection of Dickman and Helmer roads. It then runs along Dickman Road until it intersects with I-194/M-66 in downtown Battle Creek. After a very brief concurrency with M-66, it follows Michigan Avenue soon gaining a concurrency with M-96 to its eastern terminus at I-94's exit 103.
[edit] History
The road was commissioned as BUS US 12 on November 12, 1940 and converted to BUS I-94 in 1960.[1]
[edit] Marshall business loop
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| Location: | Marshall, Michigan |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Interstate 94 Business Loop or BL I-94 is a 5.52 miles (8.88 km)[1] highway looping from the I-94 freeway through downtown Marshall. It follows the routing of a former BUS US 12. The highway begins at exit 108 on I-94 where it runs concurrent with I-69 until it intersects with Michigan Avenue at exit 36 near downtown Marshall. From there it is follows Michigan Avenue and Partello Road to its eastern terminus at I-94's exit 112.
The original routing of BUS US 27 was commissioned in 1960 with the completion of the I-94/US 12 freeway bypass of Marshall. It followed US 27 (Kalamazoo Avenue) to Michigan Avenue. From there, BUS US 12 followed the current routing of BL I-94 along Michigan Avenue and Partello Road. It was redesignated as BL I -94 in late 1960 as a preparation to move the US 12 designation to its current routing along the former US 112.
The portion of BL I-94 along US 27 (Kalamazoo Avenue) became BUS US 27 with the completion of the I-69/US 27 freeway bypass on December 15, 1967. BL I-94 was rerouted and cosigned with BUS US 27 along Michigan Avenue and the new freeway on the west end. On January 11, 2001. BL I-94 inside the city of Marshall was designated a Historic Heritage Route.
[edit] Albion business loop
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| Location: | Albion |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Interstate 94 Business Loop or BL I-94 is a 4.42-mile (7.11 km)[1] highway looping from the I-94 freeway through downtown Albion. It follows the routing of a former BUS US 12. The highway begins at exit 121 on I-94 where it runs along Eaton Avenue, Austin Avenue, Superior Street, and Michigan Avenue until the highway intersects I-94 exit 124 near downtown Albion.
August 15, 1960 marked the opening of the I-94/US 12 freeway in Calhoun County.[1] At this time, Eaton Avenue was transferred to state control, marking the debut of BUS US 12 in Albion. BUS US 12 used Easton Avenue and other portions of the former US 12 through Albion. Later that year, BUS US 12 became BL I-94 in preparation to move the US 12 designation south to replace US 112. The highway was concurrently designated with M-99 from Superior Street to the eastern terminus. M-199 intersected BL I-94 north of the M-99 junction and ran along a portion of the former US 12.
[edit] Jackson business loop
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| Location: | Jackson |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Business Loop Interstate 94 is a 10.08-mile (16.22 km)[1] highway looping from the I-94 freeway through downtown Jackson. It follows the routing of a former BUS US 12. It runs concurrently with M-60 between the western terminus in Blackman Township at exit 136 on I-94 and the Michigan Avenue exit. Through downtown Jackson, it is also concurrent with BUS US 127/M-50 between North East Street and Airline Highway. Its routing along Michigan Avenue is a former routing of US 12 before the construction of I-94 and the move of US 12 to the US 112 corridor in Michigan.
[edit] History
The US 12 bypass of Jackson was partially completed in 1951. US 12 turned south along US 127 (Lansing Road) at the end of the freeway to connect back to the existing routing of US 12 through the west end of town. The former routing along Ann Arbor Road and Michigan Avenue into downtown to US 12/US 127/M-50/M-60 became BUS US 12 at this time.
The bypass of Jackson was extended west to Parma in 1953. BUS US 12 was rerouted along US 127/M-50/M-60 on West Avenue to connect back to US 12. The last routing change to BUS US 12 came on July 29, 1958 with the opening of the M-60 bypass of Jackson. BUS US 12 was extended back along Michigan Avenue to the new freeway west of town in Blackman Township and northerly to a new western terminus at I-94/US 12. The designation as BUS US 12 lasted until late 1960 when the State Highway Department redesignated the BUS US 12 routings in Michigan as BL I-94 routings. This allowed the US 12 designation to be removed from the completed I-94 freeway and moved to replace the US 112 corridor farther south in Michigan.
1964 saw several changes to the business routes in the central business district of Jackson on a trial basis. The jurisdictional transfers to affect this changes were not officially made until November 30, 1967. Eastbound BL I-94 traffic was shifted off Michigan Avenue along Blackstone Street to Washington Avenue From there it ran along Washington to Francis Street and back to Michigan Avenue The westbound traffic was shifted north at Mechanic Street to Pearl Street On Pearl traffic continued until turning south at Blackstone back to Michigan Avenue When the permanent jurisdictional transfers were made, eastbound traffic, joined by southbound BUS US 127/M-50, still used Blackstone and Washington. This leg was extended to Louis Glick Highway/Airline Drive. BUS US 125/M-50 traffic turned south, and BL I-94 traffic turned north. Eastbound traffic turned north at Louis Glick back to Michigan Avenue. Louis Glick Highway was specifically built for these changes.
A set of connector streets was built in 1969 to streamline the flow of traffic further resulting in the last changes to the BL I-94 routing in Jackson. Eastbound traffic is redirected to the new connector on Michigan Ave just east of Third Street This connector curves south then east to Washington Avenue near First Street. Louis Glick Highway was extended west from Blackstone curving south to merge into Michigan.
[edit] Ann Arbor business loop
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| Location: | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Existed: | 1960–present |
Business Loop Interstate 94 or BL I-94 is a Michigan highway looping from the I-94 freeway through downtown Ann Arbor. The route is 8.80 miles (14.16 km)[1] long. It follows the former routing of US 12. This routing was first designated as M-14 in 1956 when US 12 was moved to a freeway bypass to the south of town.[2] BL I-94 was first designated in 1960. Currently it is maintained by the City of Ann Arbor under contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Signage along the highway can be rather poor, reflecting this local maintenance. BL I-94 is freeway along the US 23 freeway on the east side of town.
[edit] History
In 1960, BL I-94 was designated along the US 12 freeway and a new BL I-94 designation was created. BL I-94 followed M-14 from the Jackson Road interchange to Main Street along Jackson Road and Huron Street. At Main, BL I-94 turned along US 23 on Huron, Washtenaw Avenue and Carpenter Road back to I-94/US 12. The US 23 freeway was finished on November 28, 1962. BL I-94 was rerouted on the east end to follow the new US 23 freeway, leaving the Carpenter Road alignment turned back to local control. BUS US 23 replaced US 23 along Huron and Washtenaw in the city of Ann Arbor at this time. A new M-14 freeway opened on November 16, 1965, removing the M-14 concurrency from the routing.
[edit] Port Huron business loop
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| Location: | Port Huron, Michigan |
| Existed: | c. 1986–present |
Interstate 94 Business Loop or BL I-94 is an 8.81 miles (14.18 km)[1] highway serving the cities of Marysville and Port Huron. The route was a part of US 25 before the completion of I-94, and was designated as a part of M-25 before gaining its current designation. The route starts from I-94 at exit 266 and ends (concurrent with BL I-69's eastern terminus) at I-94/I-69 at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge at mile 275.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bessert, Christopher J. (January 2, 2007). "Business Connections 32 through 94". Michigan Highways. http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwysBus32-94.html#I-94BL-BH. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
- ^ Bessert, Christopher J. (January 2, 2007). "Highways 10 through 19". Michigan Highways. http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys10-19.html#US-012. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
