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I 94 (MI)


Interstate 94 (I-94) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Billings, Montana, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state south of New Buffalo. It runs east through Detroit to Port Huron before terminating on the Blue Water Bridge at the US–Canadian border.

I-94 enters Michigan and parallels Lake Michigan up to St. Joseph before turning east. It then passes Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson and Ann Arbor before entering Detroit. It exits Detroit to the northeast, meets I-69 at Port Huron. Both routes end on Blue Water Bridge at Ontario Highway 402.

In early plans for the Interstate Highway System, I-94 between Benton Harbor and Detroit was proposed to be numbered I-92. The originally proposed route for I-94 became the pre-1963 routing for I-96.

Through much of Michigan, I-94 follows the route of old US 12; to the west of Detroit it uses the pre-existing M-112 (Willow Run Expressway, Detroit Industrial Expressway) which had been built during World War II to accommodate transportation of workers and in Detroit it follows the route of the Edsel Ford Freeway. Signage for the Edsel Ford Freeway remained in place until the late 1980s when Michigan deemphasized proper names on Interstate guide signs.

Land acquisition for the Edsel Ford Freeway started in 1945 however uncertainly over funding delayed completion until the 1950s. Originally referred to as the "Crosstown Freeway" the name "Edsel Ford Freeway" was adopted by petition in April 1946.

The interchange between the Lodge Freeway and the Edsel Ford Freeway, which had been constructed in 1953 was the first full freeway-to-freeway interchange built in the United States.

In 1958, sections of US 12, the Willow Run, Detroit Industrial and Edsel Ford Expressways were designated as I-94.

In 1959 additional sections of I-94 were opened, starting with a section from Coloma and Hartford, then from Paw Paw to Kalamazoo which connected to the US 12 to Battle Creek and finally from Battle Creek to Jackson. In 1960 sections of freeway opened in southwestern Michigan between the Benton Harbor - St Joseph area and between Jackson and Ann Arbor. In this year Michigan became the first state to complete a border to border toll-free interstate running for 205 miles from Detroit to New Buffalo. A section of 20 miles (32 km) between New Buffalo and Stevensville opened in 1961.

In the beginning of 1962, the US 12 designation was removed from the I-94 freeway. In the process, the designation was transferred to replace the US 112 designation in its entirety. After this transfer, I-94 was no longer concurrent with US 12, except for the Ypsilanti bypass. In 1963 the freeway was extended south of New Buffalo. The freeway ended at M-239. Traffic was diverted down M-239 into Indiana where SR 39 carried traffic the rest of the way to the Indiana Toll Road. A section in the Detroit area between Marysville and Mt. Clemens was also completed. US 25 was used to connect the gap in the freeway between Detroit and Mt. Clemens.

On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after attempting to take off from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County International Airport, killing all but one passenger, Cecilia Cichan, upon exploding at an overpass at Middle Belt Road.

Its intersection with US 24 (Telegraph Road) was one of the nation's more unusual full interchange designs. Only two bridges were used and left hand exits were used throughout. This interchange was reconfigured in 2005 to a SPUI design, I-94's first, and was completed in December of that year. A pair of bridges called the Gateway Arch Bridges (alternately "Gateway to Detroit") was incorporated in the new interchange.

In June 2012, after a resolution passed by the Michigan Legislature was signed by Gov. Rick Snyder in June, a portion of I-94 in Taylor between Inkster Road and Pelham Road was named "Auxiliary Lt. Dan Kromer Memorial Highway" after a 20-year veteran of the Taylor Police Department, who was killed in 2010 while helping motorists who had car trouble.

In the 1990s, the Michigan Department of Transportation implemented an "emergency Interstate" system along roads paralleling I-94.







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