Skip to main content

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

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.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of