Skip to main content

Interstate 375 in Detroit, a doomed freeway?

By

I-375 is a short 1.147 mile spur of I-75 in downtown Detroit which connects to the unsigned I-375 Business Spur on Jefferson Avenue.  I-375 is the southernmost segment of the Walter P. Chrysler Freeway which carried largely by I-75 in the City of Detroit.  Construction of I-375 began in 1959 and the freeway was open to traffic by late 1964 according to michiganhighways.org.

michiganhighways.org on I-375

The average traffic count on I-375 ranges between approximately 14,000 vehicles at Jefferson Avenue and approximately 54,000 vehicles at I-75.  The low traffic counts on I-375 has recently led to proposals to put the freeway on a "road diet."  In 2013 the Michigan Department of Transportation announced that it may at some point in the future remove I-375.  In 2014 MDOT announced six proposals for I-375 which were eventually reduced to only two boulevard alternatives by 2017.  In late 2018 a six to seven lane boulevard replacement of I-375 was recommended by MDOT.   Meeting minutes from December of 2018 regarding the possible future of I-375 being converted to a boulevard can be found below.

I-375 Improvement Project Meeting Summary 12/13/2018

Given I-375 appears to be a doomed freeway I decided to drive it while I could in its present configuration.  My approach to I-375 was from Comerica Park via I-75 north on the Fisher Freeway.  I turned onto I-375 southbound via I-75 Exit 51C.







I-375 southbound has several unnumbered exits.  The first exit accesses Lafayette Street which is signed as access to the Greektown Casino.




The second exit on I-375 south accesses Jefferson Avenue eastbound via Chrysler Drive.



I-375 south makes a sweeping right hand turn in front of the Renaissance Center before terminating at westbound Jefferson Avenue.  The Renaissance Center is presently the company headquarters for General Motors.  The central tower of the Renaissance Center was completed in 1977 and is the tallest building in Detroit measuring at 750 feet at the top of antenna.





The unsigned Business Spur I-375 continues on Jefferson Avenue westbound to Randolph Street where it junctions M-3 and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.




Labels:

Comments

David said…
That sweeping curve on I-375 by the RenCen goes to the right in this direction of travel.
12:42 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 78

By
California State Route 78 is a 194-mile east/west State Highway located in southern California.  California State Route 78 begins at Interstate 5 in Oceanside of San Diego County and terminates at Interstate 10 near Blythe of Riverside County.  California State Route 78 between Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 is aligned on the Ronald Packard Parkway over the corridor traditionally known as the Anza Freeway.  California State Route 78 east of Interstate 15 climbs over mountain grades into the Sonoran Desert where it become a largely rural highway.  The blog cover photo above is California State Route 78 on Vista Avenue between Oceanside and Vista as seen in the 1955 California Highways & Public Works.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 78 Disclaimer; the pre-State Highway history and Glamis Road elements of this blog are sourced from newspaper references attributed to AAroads forum user rschen7754 .  User rschen7754 was the primary Wikip...
Post a Comment
Read more