| Southern Terminus: |
M-59 at the Rochester Rd interchange (Exit 46) in southern Rochester Hills |
| Northern Terminus: |
Cnr Rochester Rd & Tienken Rd in northern Rochester Hills |
| Length: |
4.809 miles |
| Maps: |
 Route Map of M-150 |
| Notes: |
M-150 is a short, spur state trunkline route which, today, essentially serves to connect the City of Rochester with the M-59 freeway in southern Rochester Hills. |
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 This highway, while always confined to Oakland Co, was once much longer than its current 4.809 mile length. On the south, M-150 formerly continued southerly through Troy via Rochester Rd, then further south via Stephenson Hwy ending at M-102/Eight Mile Rd on the Detroit city limit. It was scaled back to end at I-75 in Troy after that freeway opened. Ironically, Stephenson Hwy between Eight Mile Rd and Gardenia (11½ Mile) in Hazel Park, Madison Heights and Royal Oak now forms the I-75/Walter P Chrysler Frwy service drives. On the north, M-150 formerly extended to Romeo Rd about 1½ miles south of the community of Lakeville as well. The length of M-150 at its longest was 24.954 miles. |
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In "State Trunkline Needs, 1960–1980," a set of maps prepared by the State Highway Dept's Office of Planning, Programming Division in 1960 showing possible additions, upgrades and improvements to the state trunkline system over the ensuing twenty years, MSHD staff recommended the following changes to the route of M-150 during that timeframe:
- Constructing the I-75/Walter P Chrysler Frwy directly atop the existing route of M-150/Stephenson Hwy from M-102/8 Mile Rd northerly through Hazel Park and into Madison Heights to south of 12 Mile Rd
- Turning back the portion of M-150/Stephenson Hwy from where the I-75 freeway was to veer easterly away from it, northerly to the merge with Rochester Rd, which is where the I-75 freeway is planned to cross over M-150 on its way toward Pontiac.
- Retaining the portion of M-150/Rochester Rd from the I-75 interchange in southern Troy northerly to downtown Rochester.
- Turning back all of M-150 from downtown Rochester northerly to the end of the existing route at Romeo Rd south of Lakeville.
In the end, the changes recommended by the planners were implemented as laid out in 1960 between that time and 1980, although later in the 1980s, the portion of M-150 south of M-59 through the City of Troy was also turned back to local control and the section of the route from downtown Rochester northerly to Tienken Rd was actually retained as part of the route. |
| History: |
1930 (Dec 2) – A new, 3.5-mile long state trunkline spur is officially established via Rochester Rd in eastern Oakland Co, beginning at M-59/Auburn Rd in southern Avon Twp (present-day City of Rochester Hills) and proceeding northerly through downtown Rochester, terminating at the northern Rochester city limit. |
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1932 (Apr 1) – A southerly 14.0-mile extension of M-150 is established as a state trunkline route, beginning at the southern terminus of M-150 at M-59/Auburn Rd and proceeding southerly via Rochester Rd to ½ mile south of the community of Big Beaver, then jogging slightly easterly and southerly again via the proposed Stephenson Hwy to 11 Mile Rd, then southeasterly via the existing Stephenson Hwy, terminating at M-102/Eight Mile Rd at the Oakland/Wayne Co line. Since the portion of Stephenson Hwy from Rochester Rd southerly to 12 Mile Rd is not yet complete, M-150 is marked-and-maintained via Rochester Rd into downtown Royal Oak, then southerly via Main St to 11 Mile and easterly via 11 Mile Rd to Stephenson Hwy. This temporary routing is not officially assumed into the state trunkline system, through. (While the Oakland Co Road Commission had built the one mile stretch of Stephenson Hwy from 11 Mile to 12 Mile Rds in 1928, that portion of the highway was not marked as part of M-150 pending the completion of the remainder of Stephenson Hwy.) |
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1932 – During this year, the State Highway Dept completes the initial grading on the Stephenson Hwy bypass of Royal Oak from 12 Mile Rd to Rochester Rd. It would take the state almost twenty years, however, to complete this project! In the interim, Stephenson would remain a gravel/dirt road with M-150 being 'temporarily' routed through downtown Royal Oak. |
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1935 (Jan 7) – An additional 7.3-mile long northerly extension of M-150 is added to the state trunkline system, beginning at the northern limits of Rochester proceeding northerly via Rochester Rd to the Oakland/Addison Twp line, terminating at Romeo Rd. The next year in 1936, this new extension is surfaced by the State Highway Dept, as is the rest of Rochester Rd from Romeo Rd northerly through the communities of Lakeville and Leonard to the Oakland/Lapeer Co line, however this segment of roadway is NOT part of the trunkline system and, as such, not signed as M-150. |
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1950 (Oct) – The Stephenson Hwy project begun in 1932 (see above) from 12 Mile Rd to Rochester Rd in southeast Oakland Co is finally completed when the highway is hard-surfaced and the M-150 designation is applied to the route for the first time since becoming a state trunkline in 1932. Unfortunately, about a decade from this point it would be realized this 'new' portion of Stephenson Hwy would have to be bypassed by an even newer highway. |
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1963 (Dec 31) – The 4.7-mile stretch of M-150 via Stephenson Hwy from 11 Mile Rd in Madison Heights northerly to I-75 at Exit 67 in Troy is turned back to local control, as on this same date all of the new I-75 freeway from 11 Mile Rd in Madison Heights northerly to Pontiac is officially established as a state trunkline. The transferred portion of Stephenson Hwy runs parallel to the new I-75 freeway, less than ½ mile to the east and is considered a redundant route. The portion of M-150/Stephenson Hwy south of 11 Mile Rd to M-102/Eight Mile Rd is not transferred, however, as the new I-75 freeway will be built directly atop the existing highway. Until the freeway is completed, the former M-150 between 11 Mile and Eight Mile is signed as "TO I-75." |
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1965 (June 30) – Nearly all of the 1935 northerly extension of M-150 is turned back to local control when all of the highway from Tienken Rd north of Rochester Hills northerly to Romeo Rd is cancelled as a trunkline. M-150 now only runs from I-75 in Troy to just north of Rochester. |
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1981 (Nov 16) – The approximately 0.215 mile segment of M-150 along Rochester Rd in southern Rochester Hills from M-59 (at present-day 46) southerly to South Blvd at the Troy city limit is cancelled as a state trunkline route and turned back to local control. Oddly, this is in the middle of the route of M-150 which stretches from I-75 at Exit 67 in southeastern Troy northerly to Tienken Rd north of Rochester. Since M-150 remains depicted along that alignment on the 1982 official Michigan state map, it is assumed this short stetch of highway remains a "marked-and-maintained" segment still part of M-150 until further jurisdictional transfers to the south in Troy occur. |
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1983 (Apr 4) – The 4.064-mile portion of M-150 along Rochester Rd in Troy from South Blvd at the Troy north city limit southerly to I-75 (at Exit 67) is cancelled as a state trunkline route and transferred to city control. The southern terminus of M-150 is now at M-59 (present-day Exit 46), which ironically leaves M-150 in nearly the same form as it was when first established as a state trunkline in 1930! |
| Controlled Access: |
No portion of M-150 exists as freeway or expressway. |
| NHS: |
The entire route of M-150 is on the National Highway System (NHS). |
| Photographs: |
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| Weblinks: |
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