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Mile Road System (Detroit)

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The Mile Road System in southeast Michigan was established as a way to delineate east-west roads through the Detroit area.

History

The Mile Road System, and its most famous road, 8 Mile Road, came about largely as a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785, which established basis for the Public Land Survey System in which land throughout the Northwest Territory was surveyed and divided into survey townships by reference to a baseline (east-west line) and meridian (north-south line). In Southeast Michigan, many roads would be developed parallel to the base line and the meridian, and many of the east-west roads would be incorporated into the Mile Road System.

The Mile Road System extended easterly into Detroit, but is interrupted, because much of Detroit's early settlements and farms were based on early French land grants that were aligned with frontage along the Detroit River and on later development along roads running into downtown Detroit in a star pattern, such as Woodward, Jefferson, Grand River, Gratiot, and Michigan Avenues, developed by Augustus Woodward in imitation of Washington, D.C.'s system. As Detroit grew, several Mile Roads were given new names within the city borders, while some roads incorporated as part of the Mile Road System have traditionally been known by their non-mile names. It is unclear if they ever bore mile numbers formally.

The baseline used in the survey of Michigan lands runs along 8 Mile Road, which is approximately eight miles directly north of the junction of Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit. As a result, the direct east-west portion of Michigan Avenue, and M-153 (Ford Road) west of Wyoming Avenue, forms the Zero Mile baseline for the Mile Road System.

The Mile Roads

Wayne County Mile Roads

The Mile Roads that cross through Wayne County are designated as follows:

  • 0 Mile - Michigan Avenue (Detroit); Ford Road (west of Detroit)
  • 1 Mile - Warren Avenue (turns in Detroit to conform with the Woodward plan)
  • 2 Mile - Joy Road
  • 3 Mile - Plymouth Road
  • 4 Mile - Schoolcraft Avenue (Detroit); Schoolcraft Road (now the service drive for Interstate 96)

Note that the 0-4 Mile roads are not signed as such - it remains unclear if they were ever signed as Mile Roads.

  • 5 Mile - Fenkell Avenue (Detroit); 5 Mile Road (west of Detroit)
  • 6 Mile - McNichols Road (Detroit); 6 Mile Road (west of Detroit)
  • 7 Mile - 7 Mile Road (Detroit); Moross Road (Grosse Pointe)
  • 8 Mile - 8 Mile Road (Detroit); Base Line Road (west of Detroit); Vernier Road (Grosse Pointe). Also signed as M-102 from Grand River Avenue to Vernier Road.

Oakland County Mile Roads

As the Mile Roads continue northward through Oakland County, many of them retain their mile number designations (9 Mile, 10 Mile, etc.). All of the northern Mile Roads have local names, sometimes several:

  • 15 Mile - Maple Road
  • 16 Mile - see below
  • 17 Mile - Wattles Road east of Woodward, Lone Pine Road west of Woodward
  • 18 Mile - Long Lake Road (through Troy)
  • 19 Mile - Square Lake Road
  • 20 Mile - South Boulevard, Hall Road (M-59)
  • 21 Mile - Auburn Road
  • 22 Mile - Hamlin Road
  • 23 Mile - Avon Road
  • 24 Mile - Walton Blvd, University Drive in Rochester
  • 25 Mile - Tienken Road

Macomb County Mile Roads

Through Macomb County, most of these road names are not carried over, and nearly all of the Mile Roads are known by their mile numbers. One notable exception is the 20 Mile road, Hall Road, which is part of Michigan State Highway 59.

List of Mile Roads north of 8 Mile Road

- Note: there were some roads listed as xx-half Mile Roads, and placed in between the roads, such as 13 Mile Road, 13 1/2 Mile Road, 14 Mile Road, in that succession for example. It is unknown if they are still signed as such.

  • 8 Mile Road
  • 9 Mile Road
  • 10 Mile Road
  • 11 Mile Road (I-696 Service Drive from I-94 to roughly Dequindre Road)
  • 12 Mile Road
  • 13 Mile Road (partly diverted to become Chicago Road. Old alignment is now Old 13 Mile Road, from Van Dyke Road to Chicago Rd/13 Mile intersection)
  • 14 Mile Road
  • 15 Mile Road
  • 16 Mile Road (See notes on 16 Mile Road, below)
  • 16 1/2 Mile Road
  • 17 Mile Road
  • 18 Mile Road
  • 17 Mile Road (has been carved up and re-aligned in some parts to fit in with newer suburbs as they were built in the 1970s and 1980s)
  • 18 Mile Road
  • 18 1/2 Mile Road
  • 19 Mile Road
  • 19 1/2 Mile Road
  • 20 Mile Road (See notes above for 20-24 Mile Roads in Macomb County)
  • 21 Mile Road
  • 22 Mile Road
  • 23 Mile Road
  • 24 Mile Road
  • 25 Mile Road

The system continues uninterrupted in sequence up to 37 Mile Road, in Macomb County, near Almont, MI along Van Dyke Road (M-53) in Lapeer County.

16 Mile Road - the Mile Road with four names

Main article: Metropolitan Parkway (Detroit area)

The alignment for the 16 Mile road through Oakland and Macomb Counties is comprised of four named roads:

  • Walnut Lake Road (through West Bloomfield Twp.)
  • Quarton Road (from Inkster Road to Woodward)
  • Big Beaver Road (from Woodward to Dequindre Rd.)
  • Metropolitan Parkway (from Dequindre Rd. to Metro Beach Metropark)

Walnut Lake Road actually turns slightly southward in West Bloomfield, and runs parallel to Quarton Road .5 miles to the south, between Inkster and Franklin Roads. West and East Quarton Roads are disconnected slightly by Telegraph Road due to Gilbert Lake.

Other east-west grid roads

The grid continues south of Ford Road, although not numbered as part of the Mile Road System. None of these roads connect to Detroit. Further south and west, and along Downriver, the roads tend to fall off the grids more often, for various reasons.

Southward from Ford Road, these include:

  • Cherry Hill Road - South 1 Mile, Dixboro to Dearborn.
  • Palmer Road - South 2 Mile, Canton Township to Westland-Inkster border.
  • Geddes Road - South 3 Mile, Superior Township to Canton Township.
  • Van Born Road - South 4 Mile, township border road, from Belleville Township to Allen Park (junction M-39).
  • Ecorse Road - South 5 Mile, former M-17. Once a major artery to the Willow Run Freeway.
  • Eureka Road - South 9 Mile, forms southern boundary of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Recently improved from I-275 to handle increased airport traffic.

The north-south mile grid

There are many roads through Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties that parallel the Meridian, creating a grid-type system. To prevent confusion, these roads have not been given Mile Road designations. Like the east-west Mile Road System, the north-south grid roads lose cohesion to the grid in much of Detroit, and in the lake-filled areas of Oakland County.

Notable north-south grid roads

Proceeding west from the Detroit River:

  • Garfield Road
  • Hayes Road - Although not fully contiguous, Hayes Road is a township border road through eastern Monroe County.
  • Schoenherr Road - An example of a gridline road with an expressway portion. Interestingly, the southern end of the expressway portion coincides the western end of the expressway portion of Metro Parkway. Paved between southern terminus and 25 mile road.
  • Hoover Road
  • Van Dyke Road - M-53 from Gratiot Avenue in Detroit to 18 Mile Road in Sterling Heights. M-53 splits off into a freeway, and the grid road (old M-53) continues northward as the Earle Memorial Highway.
  • Mound Road - Originally planned to at least partially be a freeway, connecting the Davidson Freeway with Interstate 696, hence the massive stacked interchange at I-696.
  • Ryan Road
  • Dequindre Road - The borderline between Oakland and Macomb Counties.
  • John R Road
  • Rochester Road
  • Livernois Road - Broken between Ferndale and Royal Oak, due in part to the massive I-696-Woodward interchange. Livernois is known as Main Street in Royal Oak. Southward, it extends past Joy Road before turning to run parallel with Woodward to Jefferson.
  • Wyoming Avenue, Crooks Road - Although disconnected by several miles, these two roads lie along the same grid alignment. Wyoming is the easternmost north-south grid road to reach the Zero Mile road (Ford Road) on the same north-south alignment.
  • Schaefer Hwy. (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Coolidge Hwy. (north of 8 Mile Rd.)
  • Greenfield Road - Township border road. Formed the border of former Greenfield Township and Redford Township, now parts of Detroit.
  • Southfield Road - Michigan State Highway 39.
  • Evergreen Road
  • Lahser Road - The center road for old Redford Township (now part of Detroit), Lahser connects with Outer Drive south of 5 Mile Road.
  • Telegraph Road - U.S. Highway 24 follows the grid alignment from Brownstown Township to Southfield, where it strays slightly off the gridlines.
  • Beech Daly Road
  • Inkster Road
  • Middlebelt Road
  • Merriman Road (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Orchard Lake Road (north of 8 Mile Rd.) - At its south end, Merriman leads into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and becomes John D. Dingell Dr.
  • Farmington Road
  • Drake Road
  • Newburgh Road (south of 8 Mile Rd.), Halsted Road (north of 8 Mile Rd.)
  • Haggerty Road

Sources

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