Mile Road System (Detroit)
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The Mile Road System in southeast Michigan was established as a way to delineate east-west roads through the Detroit area and the surrounding rural rim.
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[edit] History
The Mile Road System, and its most famous road, 8 Mile Road, came about largely as a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785, which established basis for the Public Land Survey System in which land throughout the Northwest Territory was surveyed and divided into survey townships by reference to a baseline (east-west line) and meridian (north-south line). In Southeast Michigan, many roads would be developed parallel to the base line and the meridian, and many of the east-west roads would be incorporated into the Mile Road System.
The Mile Road System extended easterly into Detroit, but is interrupted, because much of Detroit's early settlements and farms were based on early French land grants that were aligned with frontage along the Detroit River and on later development along roads running into downtown Detroit in a star pattern, such as Woodward, Jefferson, Grand River, Gratiot, and Michigan Avenues, developed by Augustus Woodward in imitation of Washington, D.C.'s system. As Detroit grew, several Mile Roads were given new names within the city borders, while some roads incorporated as part of the Mile Road System have traditionally been known by their non-mile names. It is unclear if they ever bore mile numbers formally.
The baseline used in the survey of Michigan lands runs along 8 Mile Road, which is approximately eight miles directly north of the junction of Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit. As a result, the direct east-west portion of Michigan Avenue, and M-153 (Ford Road) west of Wyoming Avenue, forms the "zero mile" baseline for this mile road system.
[edit] The Mile Roads (Going North)
[edit] Mile Roads within Wayne County
The Mile Roads that cross through Wayne County are designated as follows:
- 0 Mile - Michigan Avenue (Detroit); Ford Road (west of Detroit)
- 1 Mile - Warren Avenue (turns in Detroit to conform with the Woodward plan)
- 2 Mile - Joy Road
- 3 Mile - Plymouth Road
- 4 Mile - Schoolcraft Avenue (Detroit); Schoolcraft Road (now the service drive for I-96)
Note that the 0-4 Mile roads are not signed as such - it remains unclear if they were ever signed as Mile Roads.
- 5 Mile - Fenkell Avenue (Detroit); 5 Mile Road (west of Detroit)
- 6 Mile - McNichols Road and Charles (Detroit); 6 Mile Road (west of Detroit)
- 7 Mile - 7 Mile Road (Detroit and suburbs);
- 8 Mile - 8 Mile Road (Detroit and suburbs); Base Line Road (west of Detroit); Also signed as M-102 from Grand River Avenue to Vernier Road.
Note: Cadieux Road, Moross Road and Vernier Roads are NOT extensions of 6 Mile Road, 7 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road, respectively. East 7 Mile Road ends at Kelly Road (two blocks east of the intersection of 7 Mile and Moross). Vernier Road runs into 8 Mile Road east of Kelly Road near Eastland Mall; 8 Mile continues east past Harper Road. This is a common misconception by local residents and visitors alike, as Cadieux, Moross and Vernier appear to be extensions of their mile-road neighbors, but are in fact roads in their own right.
[edit] Mile Roads Within Oakland County
The mile roads in the southernmost part of Oakland County are known only by their numbers. From 15 Mile Road northward, however, all Mile Roads have local names, sometimes several:
- 15 Mile - Maple Road
- 16 Mile - see below
- 17 Mile - Wattles Road east of Woodward, Lone Pine Road' west of Woodward
- 18 Mile - Long Lake Road (through Troy)
- 19 Mile - Square Lake Road
- 20 Mile - South Boulevard, Hall Road (M-59)
- 21 Mile - Auburn Road
- 22 Mile - Hamlin Road
- 23 Mile - Avon Road
- 24 Mile - Walton Blvd, University Drive in downtown Rochester
- 25 Mile - Tienken Road
- 32 Mile - Romeo Road
[edit] Mile Roads Within Macomb County
Through Macomb County, most of these road names are not carried over, and nearly all of the Mile Roads are known by their mile numbers. One notable exception is Hall Road, which is part of M-59 and almost never referred to as 20 Mile Road.
Note: there were some roads listed as xx-half Mile Roads, and placed in between the roads, such as 13 Mile Road, 13 1/2 Mile Road, 14 Mile Road, in that succession for example. Some are signed as such.
- 8 Mile Road
- Toepfer Road (8 1/2 Mile Road)
- 9 Mile Road
- Stephens Road and Woodward Heights (9 1/2 Mile Road)
- 10 Mile Road (I-696 Service Drive from roughly Dequindre Road to roughly Coolidge Highway)
- Frazho Road and Lincoln Avenue (10 1/2 Mile Road)
- 11 Mile Road (I-696 Service Drive from I-94 to roughly Dequindre Road)
- Martin Road (11 1/2 Mile Road - Called "Tank" for part of its length running through the old Arsenal property between Van Dyke and Mound)
- 12 Mile Road
- Common Road (12 1/2 Mile Road)
- 13 Mile Road (partly diverted to become Chicago Road. Old alignment is now Old 13 Mile Road, from Van Dyke Road to Chicago Rd/13 Mile intersection)
- Masonic Boulevard (13 1/2 Mile Road)
- 14 Mile Road
- 15 Mile Road
- 16 Mile Road (See notes on 16 Mile Road, below)
- 16 1/2 Mile Road
- 17 Mile Road (has been carved up and re-aligned in some parts to fit in with newer suburbs as they were built in the 1970s and 1980s)
- 18 Mile Road
- 18 1/2 Mile Road
- 19 Mile Road
- 19 1/2 Mile Road
- 20 Mile Road (See notes above for 20-24 Mile Roads in Macomb County)
- 21 Mile Road
- 22 Mile Road
- 23 Mile Road
- 24 Mile Road
- 25 Mile Road
The system continues uninterrupted in sequence up to 37 Mile Road, in Macomb County, near Almont, MI along Van Dyke Road (M-53) in Lapeer County.
[edit] 16 Mile Road - the Mile Road with five names
- Main article: Metropolitan Parkway (Detroit area)
The alignment for the 16 Mile road through Oakland and Macomb Counties is comprised of four named roads:
- Walnut Lake Road (through West Bloomfield Twp.)
- Quarton Road (from Inkster Road to Woodward)
- Big Beaver Road (from Woodward to Dequindre Rd.)
- 16 Mile Road (from Dequindre to Van Dyke)
- Metropolitan Parkway (from Van Dyke to Metro Beach Metropark)
Walnut Lake Road actually turns slightly southward in West Bloomfield, and runs parallel to Quarton Road .5 miles to the south, between Inkster and Franklin Roads. West and East Quarton Roads are disconnected slightly by Telegraph Road due to Gilbert Lake.
[edit] The Mile Roads (Going South)
The grid continues south of Ford Road, although not numbered as part of the Mile Road System. None of these roads connect to Detroit. Further south and west, and along Downriver, the roads tend to fall off the grids more often, for various reasons.
- Ford Road - Zero Mile Road
- Cherry Hill - South 1 Mile, Dixboro to Dearborn.
- Palmer Road - South 2 Mile, Canton Township to Westland-Inkster border.
- Geddes Road - South 3 Mile, Superior Township to Canton Township.
- Van Born Road - South 4 Mile, township border road, from Van Buren Township to Allen Park (junction M-39).
- Ecorse Road - South 5 Mile, former M-17. Once a major artery to the Willow Run Expressway.
- Wick Road - South 6 Mile
- Goddard Road - South 7 Mile
- Northline - South 8 Mile
- Eureka Road - South 9 Mile, forms southern boundary of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Recently improved from I-275 to handle increased airport traffic.
- Pennsylvania - South 10 Mile
- Sibley Road - South 11 Mile
- King Road - South 12 Mile
- West Road - South 13 Mile
- Van Horn - South 14 Mile
- Vreeland - South 15 Mile
- Will Carleton Road / Gilbralter Road - South 16 Mile (border of Wayne and Monroe County)
- Woodruff Road - South 17 Mile
- Carelton Rockwood Road / Huron River Drive - South 18 Mile
- Ready Road / Lee Road - South 19 Mile
- Sigler Road - South 20 Mile
- Labo Road - South 21 Mile
- Newport Road - South 22 Mile
- Buhl Road - South 23 Mile
- Post Road / Stumpier Road - South 24 Mile
[edit] The North-South Mile Grid
There are many roads through Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties that parallel the Meridian, creating a grid-type system. To prevent confusion, these roads have not been given Mile Road designations. Like the east-west Mile Road System, the north-south grid roads lose cohesion to the grid in much of Detroit, and in the lake-filled areas of Oakland County.
[edit] Notable north-south grid roads
Proceeding west from the Detroit River:
- Little Mack Road
- Kelly Road
- Garfield Road
- Hayes Road - Although not fully contiguous, Hayes Road is a township border road through eastern Macomb County.
- Schoenherr Road - An example of a gridline road with a divided highway portion. Paved between southern terminus and 26 Mile Road.
- Hoover Road and Dodge Park Road (Chicago Road and Maple Lane Drive connect Hoover and Dodge Park from just south of 14 Mile to 15 Mile)
- Van Dyke Avenue - M-53 from Gratiot Avenue in Detroit to 18 Mile Road in Sterling Heights. M-53 splits off into a freeway, and the grid road (old M-53) continues northward as the Earle Memorial Highway.
- Mound Road - Originally planned to at least partially be a freeway, connecting the Davison Freeway with I-696, hence the massive stacked interchange at I-696.
- Ryan Road
- Dequindre Road - The borderline between Oakland and Macomb Counties.
- John R Road
- Rochester Road (north of Troy I-75 interchange), Stephenson Highway (south of Troy I-75 interchange) - Known as Main Street in downtown Rochester
- Livernois Road - Broken between Ferndale and Royal Oak, due in part to the massive I-696/Woodward interchange. Livernois is known as Main Street in Royal Oak and Clawson. Southward, it extends past Joy Road before turning to run parallel with Woodward to Jefferson.
- Wyoming Avenue, Crooks Road - Although disconnected by several miles, these two roads lie along the same grid alignment. Wyoming is the easternmost north-south grid road to reach the Zero Mile road (Ford Road) on the same north-south alignment.
- Schaefer Hwy. (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Coolidge Hwy. (north of 8 Mile Rd.)
- Greenfield Road - Township border road. Formed the border of former Greenfield Township and Redford Township, now parts of Detroit.
- Southfield Road - M-39, a limited-access freeway with service drive for much of its length from Allen Park north into Southfield.
- Evergreen Road (south of 13 Mile Rd.), Cranbrook Road (13 Mile Rd. to Quarton Rd.)
- Lahser Road - The center road for old Redford Township (now part of Detroit), Lahser connects with Outer Drive south of 5 Mile Road. The name of this road is often mispronounced, presumably because the eye reads "Lasher". Another common but incorrect pronunciation is "Lahzer". The correct pronunciation is "Lah - sir", as students of Lahser High School are quick to point out.
- Telegraph Road - US 24 follows the grid alignment from Brownstown Township to Southfield, where it strays slightly off the gridlines. Telegraph forms much of the western boundary of Detroit.
- Beech Daly Road
- Inkster Road - Township border road; seperates several communities, including Farmington Hills and Southfield in Oakland County, and Redford Township and Livonia in Wayne County. Runs through the city of Inkster.
- Middlebelt Road
- Merriman Road (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Orchard Lake Road (north of 8 Mile Rd.) - At its south end, Merriman leads into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and becomes John D. Dingell Dr.
- Farmington Road
- Drake Road (north of 9 Mile Rd.), Wayne Road (south of Plymouth Rd.)
- Newburgh Road (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Halsted Road (north of 8 Mile Rd.)
- Haggerty Road - A township border road between Pontiac Trail and 6 Mile Rd., Haggerty significantly deviates westward south of 6 Mile, migrating to an alignment one mile west within Canton Township. Other roads that follow the border alignment include Eckles Road, Hannan Road, Clark Road, and, in Monroe County, Exeter Road.
- Novi Road - from 8 Mile north to 13 Mile, originally; north of 12 Mile Road, Novi Road was realigned in the 1990s to meet with Decker Road, which runs 1/2 mile to the east. Morton-Taylor Road in Canton Township and Martinsville Road in Van Buren and Sumpter Townships, although not connected to Novi Road or each other, follow this alignment.
- Canton Center Road - In Canton Township, most urban development prior to the 21st century occured east of Canton Center Road. Although originally slightly discontinuous with Belleville Road at Michigan Avenue, Canton Center Road was realigned to connect with Belleville Road.
- Beck Road - from Michigan Ave. to Potter Road in Wixom. Recently, a Single-Point Urban Interchange opened at Beck and I-96, the first in Metro Detroit.
- Napier Road - from Cherry Hill to Grand River. Napier forms part of the border between Wayne and Washtenaw Counties. From I-94 to Oakville-Waltz Road, Rawsonville Road follows the same alignment.
[edit] Addresses
With a few exceptions, one can determine which mile roads an address is between on major north-south roads north of Detroit by using the formula:
[ (first two numbers of the address) - 5 ] / 2
- Example: 34879 Gratiot Road [(34-5)/2] = 14.5 which indicates the address is between 14 and 15 mile road.
- Using 34.879 the precision is increased to 14.9, meaning that this address is between 14 and 15 mile but much closer to 15.
In the early days of addresses in the area, surveyers calculated distance between mile roads to define addresses.
Generally speaking, 2000 addresses are assigned to each mile of road within the grid of mile roads. There are often gaps in the numbering (for instance, East addresses 9000 to 10999 are skipped). As a result, addresses in the Detroit area tend to be much higher than in other large cities, with numbers in the 20000's common even for inner-ring suburbs. The highest addresses used in the Detroit system are the range 79000 to 80999, for north-south roads between 37 Mile Road and Bordman Road in northern Macomb County.
[edit] Other Michigan Counties Using a Mile Road System
[edit] Bay County Mile Roads
In addition, other counties in Michigan have the Mile Road system. For example, in Bay County:
- 0 Mile - The Saginaw River in downtown Bay City, although State Street marks this line north of the city.
- 1 Mile - Euclid Avenue
- 2 Mile - Two Mile Road
- 3 Mile - Three Mile Road
- 4 Mile - Four Mile Road
- 5 Mile - Mackinaw Road
- 6 Mile - Fraser Road
- 7 Mile - Seven Mile Road
- 8 Mile - Eight Mile Road
- 9 Mile - Nine Mile Road
- 10 Mile - Garfield Road
- 11 Mile - Eleven Mile Road
- 12 Mile - Carter Road
- 13 Mile - Flajole Road
- 14 Mile - Rockwell Road (Bay-Midland County Line)
[edit] Grand Traverse County Mile Roads
- 1 Mile - Garfield Avenue/Garfield Road
- 2 Mile - Town Line Road
- 3 Mile - Three Mile Road
- 4 Mile - Four Mile Road
[edit] Midland County Mile Roads
- 0 Mile - Downtown Midland, marked by the line formed by Eastman Avenue and Poseyville Road - located exactly four miles west of Rockwell Road
- 1 Mile - Patterson Road
- 2 Mile - Vance Road
- 3 Mile - Sandow Road
- 4 Mile - Homer Road
- 5 Mile - Five Mile Road
- 6 Mile - Meridian Road
- 7 Mile - Seven Mile Road
- 8 Mile - Eight Mile Road
- 9 Mile - Nine Mile Road
- 10 Mile - Ten Mile Road
- 11 Mile - Eleven Mile Road
- 12 Mile - Castor Road
- 13 Mile - Magrudder Road
- 14 Mile - Alamando Road
- 15 Mile - Geneva Road
- 16 Mile - Lewis Road
- 17 Mile - Coleman Road
- 18 Mile - County Line Road (Midland-Isabella County Line)
[edit] External links
- Michigan section of the Expressway site - may contain information about expressways that lie on the mile road gridlines
