Historic US-25
On Page 1: Historical
Overview
On Page 2: Year-by-Year
History | Additional Information
This page consists of a year-by-year history of US-25, including route
realignments, business connections, bypasses and other changes to the route.
Year-by-Year History
| 1926 9999X9999X |
After intially been left out of the system, the new Toledo-Detroit-Port
Huron U.S. Highway is designated US-25. The new highway takes the following
routing:
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| 1926 (Nov 1) |
While the future route of US-25 approaching Detroit from the southwest is earmarked to run concurrently with US-24 along Telegraph Rd (formerly M-10) from Monroe Co northerly to M-23/Ecorse Rd, then turn easterly and northeasterly with M-17 (which will replace M-23) along Ecorse Rd, Allen Rd, and Oakwood Blvd, a new route for US-25 through the Downriver communities has been planned by the State Highway Dept since 1924 (even prior to the US-25 designation!) which will depart US-24/Telegraph Rd north of Flatrock in Wayne Co's Brownstown Twp, then run northeasterly via a newly-built highway alignment to Northline Rd, then turn northerly to follow an upgraded Dix Rd through the newly-incorporated City of Lincoln Park and Village of Melvindale to the existing route of US-25/M-17/Oakwood Blvd. In preparation, the State Highway Dept officially establishes the route as a the state trunkline highway route (even though portions are yet unbuilt) on this date. It will take several years until this new route is completed and opened to traffic as part of US-25. |
| 1927 (May 2) |
Road crews erect temporary cardboard route markers over the existing state trunkline route markers for all new US Highways and changed state highways as a result of the new US Highways. While new US-25 markers are erected south of Monroe, the M-56, M-10, M-23 and M-19 signs along the new route from there through Detroit and on to Port Huron are covered over with new US-25 signs. (The State Highway Dept plans to have permanent markers in place by midsummer. |
| 1928 (July 11) |
The Detroit City Council approves the request made jointly by Grover C Dillman, State Highway Dept engineer, and John W Reid, commissioner of public works, to erect route markers on the various streets in downtown Detroit carrying the new U.S. Highway routes. US-25 is to be marked along Oakwood Blvd from the west city limit of Detroit easterly to Fort St, then east along Fort St into downtown to City Hall. From there, US-25 will be posted along Cadillac Square to Randolph St, Randolph St to Gratiot Ave, then northeasterly along Gratiot to the east city limit. |
| 1929 (Sept 7) |
After originally projected to be completed and opened ot traffic by July 1, 1928, the new Dix-Toledo route of US-25 from US-24/Telegraph Rd in Wayne Co's Brownstown Twp northeasterly through Southdate, Lincoln Park and Melvindale is finally completed and opened to traffic on September 7, 1929. The $1,693,800 project, paid for through Federal-Aid and State funds and constructed primarily buy the Wayne Co Road Commission, consists of a 120-foot wide right-of-way, three railroad grade separations and is constructed with a 40-foot wide pavement (four lanes) between the Rouge River bridge and Oakwood Blvd and with a 20-foot wide pavement (two lanes) for the remainder of the distance. Wayne Co Road Commissioner Edward N Hines notes the delays in completing the route were due primarily to "a long, drawn-out struggle with right-of-way troubles, court decisions, etc." US-25 is routed over the new Dix-Toledo Rd route between US-24/Telegraph Rd and M-17/Oakwood Blvd and the concurrent US-25 designation is removed from US-24 between Dix-Toledo and Ecorse Rd and from M-17 between Telegraph and Dix-Toledo. |
| 1930 (June 30) |
A new 5.0-mile long US-25 westerly bypass of the City of Mount Clemens is officially established as a state trunkline highway route, beginning at Gratiot Ave & Nunneley Rd (later 16 Mile Rd, now Metropolitan Pkwy) and proposed to run to approximately Harrington St, then bend north-northeasterly along the route of present-day M-97/Groesbeck Hwy, then easterly one mile via present-day M-59/Hall Rd back to Gratiot Ave. Very little of the proposed bypass route is constructed as any type of roadway at the time of establishment and will be many years before any progress is made on the project. |
| 1930 (Oct 3) |
The 4.5-mile long segment of Gratiot Ave in the City of Detroit from its beginning downtown northeasterly to Harper Ave is officially established as a state trunkline highway route. It has been part of the route of US-25 since it was officially designated four years prior, but this segment has been under city jurisdiction until this point. |
| 1931 (Feb 4) |
The 3.518-mile segment of Dixie Hwy from the north Monroe city limit northerly to the intersection with US-24/US-25/Telegraph Rd is officially assumed into the state trunkline highway system as a new alignment for US-25 heading northerly out of the City of Monroe. With the US-25 designation transferred to the new Dixie Hwy alignment north of Mornoe, it is removed from Elm Ave between Monroe St and US-24/Telegraph Rd and the concurrent US-25 markers are removed from US-24/Telegraph Rd between Elm Ave and Dixie Hwy. This change shortens the route of US-25 in Michigan by approximately one full mile. |
| 1931 (June 14) |
Act 131 of 1931—the Dykstra Act—is passed allowing the State Highway Dept to take over control of state highways running into and through incorporated cities, thereby officially incorporating them as state trunkline highways. The following segments of US-25 along formerly city-controlled streets are assumed into the state trunkline system:
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| 1932 (Aug 31) |
Possibly due to the establishment of the proposed US-25 westerly bypass of Mount Clemens two years prior, the 1.8 miles of US-25/Gratiot Ave through Mount Clemens from the southern city limit at Harrington St north-northeasterly to the northern city limit was not officially established as a state trunkline route until today, assumedly as an after-affect of the Dykstra Act (Act 131 of 1931). |
| 1932 (Oct 29) |
A 0.4-mile long segment of US-25/Dix-Toledo Rd in Lincoln Park between Mayflower Ave (present-day entrance to Lincoln Park Mobile Home Village) and Champaign Rd that had not been officially established as state trunkline route in November 1926 is officially established on this day. |
| 1933 (mid-May) |
In mid-May, communities along the route of M-29 between Port Huron and Port Austin are notified the US-25 designation has been extended between those two communities, replacing the M-29 designation along the way. The northern terminus for M-29 will now be at US-25 in Marysville, while the remaining portion of M-29 between Port Austin at the tip of the Thumb and Bay City that was not given the extended US-25 designation will be redesignated as M-25. The M-29 route markers will stay in place, however, and new US-25 and M-25 signs will not be posted for over nine months. The M-25 designation is assigned to the Port Austin-to-Bay City segment for three primary reasons: |
| 1934 (late-Feb) |
Even though US-25 was officially extended northerly from Port Huron to Port Austin in May 1933, the State Highway Dept doesn't begin changing out the M-29 route markers for US-25 markers (from Port Huron to Port Austin) and M-25 route markers (from Port Austin to Bay City) until now. At this point, US-25 now physically ends at Port Austin. Interestingly, the officially established trunkline route on the north side of Port Huron follows Stone St northerly to Holland Ave then easterly via Holland Ave to Gratiot Ave, turning northerly on Gratiot to head northerly out of Port Huron. However, the signed route of M-29–turned–US-25 turns easterly from Stone St via State St to Gratiot Ave then northerly to Holland Ave and out of the city. State St and Gratiot Ave south of Holland Ave, while marked-and-maintained as part of US-25, are still technically under city jurisidiction. |
| 1934 (Aug 2) |
Huron Civic Organizations in the Thumb area of the state press transportation officials for a southwesterly continuation of the US-25 designation from its new northern terminus at Port Austin via the newly-designated M-25 (formerly M-29) through Caseville, Sebawing, and Unionville to a new terminus at US-23 in Bay City. The reasoning given by the civic groups for wanting the extension is "that if the shore road, southwest of Port Austin, can be designated as US-25, it will be marked with a red line on all road maps." |
| 1935 (Jan 7) |
While the segment of US-25 in Saint Clair Co heading northerly from Port Huron through Lakeport to the Sanilac Co line has been marked-and-maintained as part of US-25 since its extension in 1933–34 (and as M-29 before that), it is now officially established as a state trunkline highway route. |
| 1934 (Oct 29) |
The 1.223 miles of US-25/Gratiot Ave on the north side of Port Huron from Elmwood St northerly to US-25 at the cnr of Gratiot & Holland Ave is officially established as a segment of state trunkline highway even though it is already signed as part of US-25 (and M-29 before it)—it had been under city jurisdiction but marked-and-maintained as a trunkline route. The State St and Gratiot Ave (south of Elmwood St) part of the route still remains marked-and-maintained as US-25 but under city control. |
| 1937 (June– Dec 29) |
A new, parallel roadway to the existing US-25 routing along Military St in southernmost Port Huron is created by utilizing the existing portions of Electric Ave one block inland from the St Clair River and then constructing new segments of street inbetween the existing street segments, namely from Moak St to Reid Ave and from 11th St to Vanderberg Pl where the newly-constructed Electric Ave merges back into the existing Military St alignment. Against some local protest, State Highway Commissioner Murray D VanWagoner mandates the new Electric Ave alignment will consist of southbound US-25 traffic, while the existing Military St route will be one-way for northbound only traffic. The Electric Ave alignment opens to traffic in June while the new roadway itself from Vanderberg Pl southwesterly to M-146/24th St is officially established as a state trunkline route on December 29. (The portion of Electric Ave from M-146/24th St southwesterly to the Port Huron city limit had been established as part of the Act 131 of 1931—the Dykstra Act—establishments in 1931 as part of M-146.) |
| 1937 (Aug 30– Sept 27) |
The remaining 0.31-mile segment of marked-and-maintained US-25 in Port Huron consisting of the four blocks of State St from Stone St easterly to Gratiot Ave then northerly for one block along Gratiot Ave from State St to Elmwood St (where it picks up the established route from 1934 heading northerly) is finally officially established as a state trunkline route on August 30. Then on September 27 the 1.53-mile "other side of the rectangle" along Stone St from State St northerly to Holland Ave and Holland Ave from State easterly to Gratiot Ave—which never was signed as US-25 or M-29 before it—is cancelled as a trunkline route and turned back to local control. |
| mid-1940 | A new US-25A (US-25 ALTERNATE) designation is created on the north side of Port Huron, running primarily via present-day M-25 from Lakeshore Dr southerly to M-51/Pine Grove Ave, then southeasterly along with M-51 back to US-25 in Port Huron. It is presumed this new alternate route is created to allow US-25 traffic access to the newly-completed Blue Water Bridge, which passes over the route of US-25, itself running too close to the shore at that point. |
| 1944 | A northerly extension of Toledo's Summit St into southeastern Monroe Co is completed to US-25 on the south side of Erie. This new highway is designated US-25A, the second such alternate route for US-25 in Michigan. |
| c.1946 | By 1946, the new US-25A routing in southeastern Monroe Co has been redesignated as US-24A. |
| Late 1953, 1954 (Jan 4– Sept 15 ) |
As part of the paving of the segment of US-25 between Harbor Beach and Port Hope in Huron Co, the entire route is essentially reconstructed from present-day Hunter (Industrial) Dr in Harbor Beach northerly to the cnr of Main St, Lakeshore Rd & Dean St in Port Hope instead of simply paving the existing winding route. The new, 6.826-mile long straighter route is provisionally completed and opened to traffic as an unpaved route in late 1953 and is officially established as a state trunkline route on January 4, 1954. This segment receives its final asphalt surface in the Summer of 1954 and is fully completed and opened to traffic by September 15. Portions of the former route are cancelled as a state trunkline on January 4, 1954 and turned back to local control that still exist include: Lakeshore Rd from Ritchie Dr on the north side of Harbor Beach to Rapson Rd and Old Shore Rd from Rapson Rd back to the new route of US-25 at Minnick Rd. From Minnick Rd northerly to Ruppel Rd, the former route is either obliterated or subsumed under the grade of the new highway. Ruppel Rd, a segment fo the former route, then re-emerges south of Port Hope and runs west of the new alignment and becomes Main St in Port Hope to where it merges back with the new alignment of US-25 in Port Hope. |
| 1954 (Mar 24) |
The Michigan Senate votes unanimously to name US-25 between Detroit and the Ohio state line as the Clara Barton Memorial Highway to honor the founder of the American Red Cross. |
| 1956 (Oct 30) |
A new alignment for US-25 from the northern end of the community of Lakeport in northeastern Saint Clair Co northerly for 3.32 miles to just south of Burtch Creek is completed and opened to traffic with an asphalt surface, replacing the curvier, narrower former route closer to Lake Huron. The new route is not yet officially established as a state trunkline route nor is the former route cancelled (yet), but the portion of former US-25 through Lakeport State Park, which is proposed by the Dept of Conservation to be abandoned and turned over them to be used, in part, as an access road for the part, is severed in three places to block traffic from using it with the assumption it will soon happen. |
| 1957 (June 24, Sept 11 ) |
The new US-25 alignment from the northern end of Lakeport northerly for 3.32 miles to just south of Burtch Creek in Saint Clair Co, open to traffic for nearly eight months, is officially established as a state trunkline highway route. The former route along Lakeshore Dr is officially cancelled as a trunkline and turned back to county control. The Dept of Conservation then requests the Saint Clair Co Road Commission officially abandon the portion of former US-25 through Lakeport State Park that was severed when the new route was constructed. Local businessowners from North Lakeport are livid about the closure of the former US-25—even though a new Lakeshore Dr access road links the southern end of the open former road with the new US-25 bypass—and demand it be reopened and the Road Commission deny the abandonment petition, claiming the severing of the old road was done with without a public hearing. In the end, on September 11, the Saint Clair Co Road Commission rules in favor of the Conservation Dept and abandones the segment through Lakeport State Park with the park converting much of the former portion of US-25 as a park access roadway. |
| 1959 (May 1– June 11) |
The Michigan State Highway Dept applies to the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO—today's AASHTO) on May 1 to make four major changes to the route of US-25 in the State of Michigan—three of which were eventually made, one of which was not. From north to south, the department requests:
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| 1958 (Nov 12) |
A project to pave the final 3½ miles of gravel-surfaced US-25 in the entire State of Michigan—in fact, reportedly the only unpaved stretch of US-25 on its entire length from Macon, Georgia to Port Austin, Michigan!—also involves straigtening the highway and reconstructing it to modern highway standards from Port Hope northwesterly toward Huron City. The new alignment segments of US-25 are officially established as state trunkline routes on this date while the portions bypassed by those new segments are cancelled as trunkline routes and either obliterated or simply abandoned as public roadways. |
| 1963 (Nov 27) |
A major segment of I-94 freeway—one of the longest opened at one time at 33 miles in legnth—is completed and opened to traffic from Metropolitan Pkwy in Harrison Twp (southeast of Mount Clemens in Macomb Co) northeasterly into Saint Clair Co to a terminus at US-25/Gratiot Ave (now BL I-94 at present-day Exit 266 near Marysville). The portion of the new freeway from Shook Rd to William P Rosso Hwy is constructed atop the alignment of M-29, which is now scaled back to end at I-94 at the 23 Mile Rd interchange. (M-29 south of the Shook Rd interchange through St Clair Shores is temporarily redesignated as an extension of M-102.) From 23 Mile Rd (at present-day Exit 243 northeasterly to the end of the completed freeway, the US-25 designation joins with I-94 to run concurrently between Chesterfield Twp and Marysville. Also, US-25/Gratiot Ave is signed as "TO I-94" from Detroit to Mt Clemens to span the gap between completed freeway segments. This new 33-mile long freeway segment cost $22 million to construct. |
| 1963 (Dec 28) |
One month after the new freeway is opened to traffic, the 16.71-mile long portion of I-94/US-25 in Saint Clair Co from the Macomb Co line northeasterly to US-25/Gratiot Rd near Marysville is officially established as a state highway route. Simultaneously, the 14 miles of the former route of US-25 along Gratiot Ave from the Macomb/Saint Clair Co line northeasterly to I-94 at present-day Exit 266 near Marysville is turned back to county control. |
| 1964 (Sept 30) |
Two segments of the former route of US-25 in Macomb Co—replaced by the portion of the I-94/US-25 freeway opened to traffic in November 1963 are turned back to county control. The segments consist of 4.15 miles of Gratiot Rd from 23 Mile Rd northeasterly to M-19/New Haven Rd and 0.14 mile of Gratiot Rd from M-19/Main St in Richmond to the Saint Clair Co line. |
| 1964 (Oct 14-15) |
A 7½-mile long segment of I-94/US-25 freeway is completed and opened to traffic on Oct 14 from the end of the existing freeway at US-25/Gratiot Rd (present-day Exit 266) near Marysville northerly around Port Huron to the Lapeer Connector (formerly signed as M-146), part of the approach roadway to the Blue Water Bridge. From there, I-94/US-25 replaces M-146 as the designation along the freeway leading across the Black River to the foot of the Blue Water Bridge. The former route of US-25 through Marysville and Port Huron is redesignated at BUS US-25. In addition, the route of US-25A from the new I-94/US-25 freeway northerly toward Lakeport is redesignated as part of US-25, while the portion of what had been US-25 from Pine Grove Ave northerly to the former US-25A is turned back to local control. The same 7.5-mile stretch of freeway is officially established as a state trunkline route the next day on Oct 15. |
| 1966 (Oct 19 ) |
As the final segment of freeway paralleling US-25 through southeast Michigan is nearing completion, the Michigan Dept of State Highways submits its application to the American Association of State Highway Officials (ASSHO—today's AASHTO) requesting the deletion of the US-25 route designation in its entirety from the State of Michigan because: The deletion of US-25 route markers in Michigan will eliminate the dualing of US-25/US-24, US-25/I-75 and US-25/I-94 numbers which present a duplication of signing and is confusing to motorists and difficult to sign, particularly at interchanges. Also, it will eliminate carrying the US-25 number alternately on freeways and free access routes (where an alternate freeway is available) which is a disservice to motorists following the US-25 markers. |
| 1967 (Feb 2-3) |
The final segment of I-94/Edsel Ford Frwy in Macomb Co—from the Wayne Co line northerly to 14 Mile Rd in Saint Clair Shores—is completed and opened to traffic. As such, the "TO I-94" route markers along US-25/Gratiot Ave are removed. |
| 1967 (June 20) |
The American Association of State Highway Officials (ASSHO—today's AASHTO) approves the Dept of State Highways' request from the previous August to completely delete the US-25 designation from Michigan altogether. It will still take almost seven years for the route to actually disappear from the state! |
| 1970 (Nov ~15) |
In what was to be the last actual, physical relocation/realignment to ever be done along US-25 in Michigan (as opposed to a rerouting along another existing highway), new bypasses of the small unincorporated hamlets of Huron City and Grindstone City in Huron Co at the tip of Michigan's Thumb are completed and opened to traffic around November 15th and the former routes of US-25 through both communities—Pioneer Rd in Huron City and Old Lakeshore Rd in Grindstone City—are temporarily retained as unsigned state trunkline routes. The bypasses are a part of a 10-mile reconstruction of US-25 from Port Austin easterly to southeast of Huron City. While the final stretch of completely unpaved US-25 was paved in 1958, the portion easterly from Port Austin had been surfaced with what the State Highway Dept termed "low-grade asphalt" in the mid-1920s and with the same material in the Grindstone City–Huron City area in the late 1930s. The $3.2 million project was originally scheduled for completion on November 1st with a possibly early completion date of September 15th, but a strike by paving workers delayed the completion until mid-November. A ribbon-cutting for the entire 10-mile project is scheduled for the spring of 1971. |
| 1971 (Sept 28) |
The two bypasses of the hamlets of Grindstone City and Huron City in northeastern Huron Co at the tip of the Thumb are officially established as state trunkline routes, nearly a year after they were completed and opened to traffic. The former routes of US-25 through both communities—Pioneer Rd in Huron City and Old Lakeshore Rd in Grindstone City—are also cancelled as state trunkline routes and turned back to local control. The two new bypasses officially add 2.253 miles to the trunkline system, while the two cancelled segments total 2.277 miles that are taken off the system, for a net loss of 0.024 mile from these two bypasses. |
| 1972 (Oct 16) |
The 4.08 miles of US-25 running parallel to the I-75/Fisher Frwy from the Fort St interchange (present-day Exit 43) in River Rouge northeasterly to the Clark St interchange (present-day Exit 47) in southwest Detroit along Fort St is turned back to city control. As a result, more of the US-25 designation is transferred to run concurrently with I-75 between those interchanges. US-25 now runs concurrently with I-75 from Dix–Toledo Rd north of Woodhaven to Clark St in Detroit. |
| 1973 (Sept 26) |
The Michigan State Highway Dept announces that now that I-75 is completed and opened to traffic through Detroit, the US-25 designation in Michigan will be discontinued. Michigan and Ohio transportation officials have been considering decommissioning US-25 in both states since 1969. It will be five more months before all US-25 route markers are removed in Michigan. |
| 1974 (Feb 28) |
All US-25 route markers along I-94 in Macomb and Saint Clair Cos have now been removed and I-94 along the formerly-concurrent segment now runs by itself. The former BUS US-25 routing through Port Huron and Marysville is redesignated as part of the new M-25 extension running along the Lake Huron shore from Port Austin to the Port Huron area. |
| 1974 (Winter) |
After only 47 years of existence, MDOT working in conjunction with
ODOT in Ohio asks AASHTO and
receives permission to completely decommission US-25 in both states.
The highway has been largely replaced by I-75 throughout
Ohio and into Michigan as far as downtown Detroit. From there northeasterly
to Port Huron, US-25 has been functionally replaced by I-94,
leaving only the stretch from Port Huron to Port Austin unduplicated.
Interestingly enough, however, all portions of US-25 in existence at
time of decommissioning remain part of the state trunkline system!
The replacement designations are as follows:
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Additional Information
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End of US Highway 25 – from Dale Sanderson's US Ends website. - M-25 Route Listing