| M-112 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Existed: | late 1942 [1][2] – 1956[3][4] | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: | US 112 in Ypsilanti | |||
| US 24 in Dearborn | ||||
| East end: | US 112 in Detroit | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Washtenaw, Wayne | |||
| Highway system | ||||
|
Michigan State Trunkline Highway System
|
||||
M-112 was the state trunkline highway designation given to segments of what is now Interstate 94 in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan.
Contents |
M-112 started at US 112/Michigan Avenue. in Ypsilanti, running south through town and turning east through Ypsilanti Township. The expressway provided access to the industrial complex at Willow Run in Van Buren Township and continued eastward into Wayne County. In Romulus, the trunkline turned northeast as the Detroit Industrial Expressway, passing to the north of Detroit–Wayne Major Airport. In Taylor, the expressway met both M-17 and US 24 and turned sharply northeast toward Dearborn. Once in eastern Dearborn, M-112 terminated at US 112 just west of the Detroit city line.[3]
Prior to the United States entry into World War II plans were being prepared for a "Crosstown" highway through downtown Detroit into Macomb County which was later built as the Edsel Ford Expressway in the 1950s (which is now part of the Interstate 94).
The freeway which was for a period known as the M-112 was originally constructed as the 'Willow Run Expressway' and as the 'Detroit Industrial Expressway' which when completed connected with US 112 at both ends on completion.
The 8.7-mile (14.0 km) long "Willow Run Expressway" was hurriedly constructed in December 1941 after following the bombing of Pearl Harbor to help workers in the Detroit area get to Willow Run on the eastern edge of Washtenaw County where the B-24 Liberator airplanes were being made during the war. It was built right next to the existing Chase Road and was completed in September 1942 as a four-lane divided highway with some cross-road intersections, from Huron River Drive in western Romulus to US 112 on the west side of Willow Run via the Willow Run Bypass. Chase Road acted as the new service drive for the expressway.
The "Detroit Industrial Expressway" was built between 1943 through 1945 from the eastern end of the Willow Run Expressway in Romulus first to Southfield Highway in Allen Park and then to US 112/Michigan Avenue (now US 12) near the boundary between Detroit and Dearborn. It was constructed as a limited-access road.
Some tri-level grade separation bridges that were built as part of the Willow Run and Detroit Industrial Expressways are recognized as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as significant components of the expressway system and as creative engineering solutions to the massive volume of traffic anticipated when shifts changed at the bomber plant. They can be found along US 12 as it passes by the Willow Run plant, now called Willow Run Transmission.
The road was later designated as M-112 . It was then redesignated as US 12 in 1956, and the M-112 designation has not been used since. Beginning in 1958, the route was assimilated into the Interstate System as I-94. In the mid 1960s, the Willow Run Expressway was reconstructed to full Interstate standards, complete with full interchanges at Belleville and Haggerty Roads.
| County | Location | Mile | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washtenaw |
Ypsilanti | US 112 | ||
| M-17 | ||||
BYP US 112 |
||||
| Wayne |
Taylor | M-17 (Ecorse Road) | ||
| US 24 | ||||
| Dearborn | US 112 | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||