M-5 (Michigan highway)
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| M-5 |
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| Length: | 20.86 mi[1] (34 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1977[1] | ||||||||
| West end: | Pontiac Trail in Commerce Twp. | ||||||||
| Major junctions: |
   I-96/I-275 & I-696 in Novi |
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| East end: | I-96 in Detroit |
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| Counties: | Wayne & Oakland | ||||||||
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M-5 is a 21 mile (34 km) highway in the metro Detroit area of the U.S. state of Michigan.
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[edit] Termini
M-5's eastern terminus is at the junction of Grand River Avenue and Interstate 96 in western Detroit (I-96 exit 185). M-5's northern terminus is at its junction with Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township, a rapidly-developing area of Oakland County.
[edit] Pre M-5 History
Originally constructed as part of old US 16 (and later I-96), the Brighton-Farmington Expressway ran from U.S. 23 near Brighton parallel to Grand River Avenue, following an existing southern bypass of Farmington to a junction with Grand River west of Middle Belt Road. Initial plans called to extend I-96 to downtown Detroit along Grand River Avenue, which was given the designation Business Spur I-96. These plans were scrapped due to the level of development along Grand River, and I-96 would be rerouted to the south.
[edit] M-5 Emerges along Grand River Avenue
When I-96 was completed in 1977, the Business Spur I-96 designation was removed from Grand River Avenue. Rather than revert to its original c.1917 designation of M-16, the Michigan Department of Transportation selected M-5 as the new route designation, following a trend established in 1970 and 1973, when odd single-digit routes M-1 and M-3 were designated along Woodward Avenue (formerly U.S. 10) and Gratiot Avenue (U.S. 25), respectively. Grand River was signed as M-5 between 8 Mile Road and its present eastern terminus at I-96 while leaving Grand River Avenue southeast of I-96 an unsigned state trunkline. Both the portion of BS I-96 north of 8 Mile Road and the stub of I-96 that continued out to I-275 became part of M-102.
[edit] M-5 Freeway and the Haggerty Extension
In 1994, the first leg of the Haggerty Extension, an expressway built on the right-of-way of the proposed northern leg of I-275, was completed to 12 Mile Road. At this time, M-DOT chose to extend M-5 northwesterly beyond 8 Mile Road, replacing the M-102 designation along the former segment of the Brighton-Farmington freeway.
Over the next eight years, M-5 was extended as far north as Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township. It is highly unlikely that any new highway will be constructed in the near future. Local residents have long opposed extension of I-275 to its proposed connection with I-75 in Clarkston, because of the many lakes and parklands that would be adversely affected by the construction of such a freeway, and residents also fear a drop in property values. While the residents of these communities continue to maintain a strong stance against freeway construction, the area itself has already begun to be affected by urban sprawl.
[edit] Historical notes
From 1926 until 1939, M-5 was used as the designation along what is now M-129. Single digit designations are removed at this time, reserved for a future "superhighway" system that later became Michigan's Interstates.
