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M-10; the Lodge Freeway (Old US Route 10, Old US Route 12 and Old Business Spur I-696)

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While recently in the Detroit area I drove the entirety of Lodge Freeway portion of M-10.


The Lodge Freeway is an approximately 18.5 mile portion of M-10 between M-3/Randolph Street in downtown Detroit north to I-696/US 24 in Southfield.  The Lodge Freeway carries a strange history of ever changing and inconsistent route designations over the course of it's history.

The Lodge Freeway was constructed through the 1950s.  Construction of the Lodge Freeway included the first freeway-to-freeway interchange in the United States which opened at the Edsel Ford Freeway (current I-94 and former US 12) in 1953.  In 1956 the route of US 12 was shifted to take a southward turn off the Edsel Ford Freeway onto Lodge Freeway to an eventual terminus in downtown Detroit.  In 1962 the Lodge Freeway lost it's US 12 designation when said route was shifted onto the former alignment of US 112.  Subsequently the Lodge Freeway was designated as part of the I-696 Business Spur in 1962.  In 1970 US 10 was realigned onto a multiplex of US 24 on Telegraph Road into Southfield.  Consequently US 10 was shifted over the entirety of the Lodge Freeway into downtown Detroit which replaced the designation of I-696 BS.  In 1987 US 10 was truncated to Bay City and the Lodge Freeway was designated as part of M-10.  More information regarding the Lodge Freeway can be found on michiganhigways.org.

michiganhighways.org on M-10

My drive on the Lodge Freeway was northbound from downtown Detroit.  M-10 begins on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit at a junction with Randolph Street/M-3 and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.


M-10 northbound begins as a surface highway on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit before dipping under Cobo Hall where the Lodge Freeway begins.  The Lodge Freeway northbound takes a right hand turn underneath Cobo Hall whereas Jefferson Avenue traffic exits to the left.







The next major junction on the Northbound Lodge Freeway is at Exit 2A for I-75 on the Fisher Freeway.





The Lodge Freeway northbound passes by the Motor City Casino and former US 16 on Grand River Avenue before meeting Exit 3 for Forest Avenue/Warren Avenue.



The Lodge Freeway northbound next meets I-94/Edsel Ford Freeway at Exits 4A and 4B.  Exit 4C allows traffic to access Milwaukee Avenue and Grand Boulevard.







The Lodge Freeway northbound does not meet Exit 5A but does access Exit 5B at Clairmount Avenue and Exit 5C at Hamilton Avenue/Chicago Boulevard.



The northbound Lodge Freeway next accesses Webb Avenue at Exit 6A, Glendale Avenue at Exit 7A and Davidson Freeway/M-8 at Exit 7B/7C.






At Exit 8 the Lodge Freeway northbound accesses Linwood Avenue.


At Exit 9 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Livernois Avenue and at Exit 10 it accesses Wyoming Avenue.





At Exit 11 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Meyers Road and McNichols Road.


At Exit 12 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses 7 Mile Road.



At Exit 13 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses M-102 at Eight Mile Road.  Eight Mile Road serves at the northern limit of Wayne County and the City Limits of Detroit.  The northbound Lodge Freeway enters Southfield of Oakland County north of Eight Mile Road.



At Exit 14A/14B the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Nine Mile Road.  Traffic from the Southfield Freeway/M-39 merges in with Lodge Freeway but isn't accessible from the northbound lanes.


At Exit 14C the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Southfield Road.



At Exit 15 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Evengreen Road and Ten Mile Road.


At Exit 16 the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses Lahser Road.


At Exit 18 A/B the northbound Lodge Freeway accesses US 24 on Telegraph Road whereas I-696 west is accessed via Exit 18C.  The Lodge Freeway designation of M-10 ends north of I-696 and the route continues Farmington Hills as the Northwest Highway.  M-10 terminates at in West Bloomfield Township at Orchard Lake Road.  The Northwest Highway originally opened as M-4 in 1979 before becoming part of M-10 when US 10 was truncated to Bay City.





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