Interstate 275 (Michigan)

	Interstate 275; Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
	Maintained by MDOT
Length:	35.01 mi[citation needed] (56.34 km)
Formed:	1968 (completed 1977)
South end:	I-75 near Monroe
Major; junctions:	DTW / Eureka Rd. in Romulus; I-94 in Romulus, MI; I-96 / M-14 in Livonia
North end:	I-96 / I-696 / M-5 in Farmington Hills
	Michigan highways
< M-247	M-294 >

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Interstate 275 (I-275) in the U.S. state of Michigan is a western bypass of the Detroit metropolitan area. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the length is 29.97 miles (48.23 km) while the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports the length as 35.01 miles (56.34 km). This discrepancy is due to a disagreement over the northern terminus.

According to the FHWA, I-275 ends at the junction with I-96/M-14 along the boundary between Livonia and Plymouth Township. MDOT considers I-275 to extend north overlapping with I-96 to the junction with I-696 and M-5 along the boundary between Farmington Hills, Michigan and Novi, Michigan. Road signs and most maps support MDOT's view.

The southern terminus is the junction with I-75 in Newport, Michigan, northeast of Monroe, Michigan.

I-275's northern terminus is also the western terminus of I-696, making this junction one of the few (perhaps the only) points that is the terminus of two three-digit Interstate Highways with different parents. With the original planned northern terminus at I-75 near Davisburg abandoned because of local opposition, it appears that the current northern terminus of I-275 at I-696 will be permanent.

[edit] Route description

I-275 is the only freeway in Metro Detroit that has neither a commonly used proper name nor frontage roads running beside it, although Haggerty Road is never more than a few miles to the west.

[edit] Lane configurations

between southern terminus and Telegraph Road (c. 2 lanes)
between Telegraph Road and concurrency merge point of I-96 (c. 3 lanes)
from I-96 merge to Nine Mile Road (c. 4 lanes)
concurrent with I-96 from Nine Mile Road and terminating at the I-696/M-5 junction (c. 5 lanes)

[edit] History

I-275 was originally planned as an alternate Interstate Highway (technically referred to as an "even-numbered circumferential highway") allowing through traffic on I-75 to bypass the city of Detroit. The present-day freeway was built in three stages over two years.

In 1975, the first four miles (6 km) of the freeway were opened to traffic from M-153/Ford Rd. to Schoolcraft Ave.^[1] The second phase was completed in the autumn of 1976, when I-275 was extended north from Schoolcraft (and the not-yet-completed interchange with the future route of I-96/Jeffries Freeway to the I-275/I-96/I-696 interchange in Novi. Then in January 1977, the remaining portion of I-275 from I-75 north of Monroe to M-153/Ford Rd. was completed and opened to traffic six months ahead of schedule. The highway was now continuous from I-75 through to I-696. The original route was planned to continue north through Oakland County and reconnect to I-75 near Davisburg, thus making I-275 a true bypass loop. But due to increasing population and business growth in this area and local opposition to the extension, the final segment of this bypass was not completed. In early 1977, the Michigan Department of Transportation cancelled their long-standing plans for this northerly extension of I-275.

After many years of inactivity, further work began along this same route, but the resulting highway was designated M-5 rather than I-275. The first section of this freeway extension was opened in October 1994.^[2] This extended the route from I-275's previous terminus at I-96/I-696 north to 12 Mile Rd. In 1999, a second extension of M-5 was completed to 14 Mile Rd., but only as an expressway. The final two miles (3 km) between 14 Mile Rd. and Pontiac Trail were completed on 2002-11-01 and no further construction north of this point is currently planned.

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Monroe	Frenchtown Township	0.00		I-75 – Detroit, Toledo	Southern terminus
	Frenchtown Township	2.13	2	US 24 (Telegraph Road)	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
	Ash Township	5.52	5	Carleton, S Rockwood	Carleton-Rockwood Road
	Ash Township	7.72	8	Will Carleton Road - Flat Rock	Eastbound Will Carleton Rd. access to city of Flat Rock. Westbound access to Village of Waltz and Carleton.
Wayne	Huron Township	10.73	11	S. Huron Road	Southbound traffic has 2 exits. B is West, A is East. North access to Willow Metropark.
	Huron Township	12.72	13	Sibley Road — New Boston	Provides access to Downriver communities.
	Romulus	14.70	15	Eureka Road	Detroit Metro Airport - South Access via John D. Dingell Drive.
	Romulus	17.26	17	I-94 - Detroit, Chicago	Detroit Metro Airport - North Access via Merriman Road.
	Van Buren Township	19.93	20	Ecorse Road - Romulus	Connects to Willow Run Airport
	Canton	22.07	22	US 12 (Michigan Avenue) – Ypsilanti, Dearborn, Canton	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
	Canton	25.05	25	M-153 (Ford Road) - Westland, Garden City, Canton	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
	Plymouth	27.61	28	Ann Arbor Road - Plymouth, Livonia	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
		29.48	29	I-96 / M-14 – Detroit, Ann Arbor	exit not numbered for southbound traffic
		I-275 joins I-96 and uses its exit numbers
	Livonia	31.28	170	6 Mile Road	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
		32.27	169	7 Mile Road	Northbound has two exits. B for Seven Mile Road east, A for west.
		33.33	167	8 Mile Road (Baseline Road) - Northville	Six-ramp parclo A4 interchange.
Oakland	Farmington Hills	36.54	165	I-696 (Grand River Avenue) / M-5 – Port Huron	Northern terminus
Oakland	Farmington Hills	I-275 ends. Freeway continues west as I-96, north as M-5 and east as I-696.