page_title: Interstate 96
section_title: Metro Detroit
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 96 / Route description / Metro Detroit
caption_attribution_description: Satellite image of the interchange at the confluence of I-96, I-696, I-275 and M-5 near Novi, Michigan.
context_page_description: Interstate 96 is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately 192 miles entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US 31 on the eastern boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon, and the eastern terminus is at I-75 near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. From Grand Rapids through Lansing to Detroit, the freeway parallels Grand River Avenue, never straying more than a few miles from the decommissioned US 16. The Wayne County section of I-96 is named the Jeffries Freeway from its eastern terminus to the junction with I-275 and M-14. Though maps still refer to the freeway as the Jeffries, the portion within the city of Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005 in honor of the late civil rights pioneer. There are four auxiliary Interstates as well as two current and four former business routes associated with I-96.
  Grand River Avenue originated as an Indian trail before Michigan statehood. It later was used as a wagon road across the state.
context_section_description: Near the Livingston County Spencer J. Hardy Airport on the western edge of Howell, I-96 meets M-59, which runs to Pontiac and carries the Howell business loop easterly to Grand River Avenue. The business loop reconnects near Lake Chemung on the east side of town, and I-96 turns further to the southeast. On the northeast side of Brighton, I-96 crosses over Grand River Avenue and the landscape transitions to include residential subdivisions. I-96 proceeds to cross US 23.
  I-96 passes through an area with several lakes as it crosses into Oakland County. This area includes the Island Lake State Recreation Area to the south and the Kensington Metropark to the north of the freeway in an area where it crosses the Huron River. The Interstate runs through Wixom into Novi, where it passes to the south of the Twelve Oaks Mall. Southeast of the mall, I-96 enters a complex interchange on the border between Novi and Farmington Hills that connects it to M-5 (Haggerty Connector), I-275 and I-696 (Reuther Freeway). The trunkline drops a lane in each direction as it enters the interchange and turns southward. The freeway then merges into I-275 and increases to four lanes in each direction running south in Farmington Hills.
  According to the Federal Highway Administration, I-275 ends at the junction with I-96 and M-14 along the boundary between Livonia and Plymouth Township and not at the interchange in Novi and Farmington Hills. MDOT considers I-275 to extend northward concurrently with I-96 to the Novi and Farmington Hills, and maps from other providers follow MDOT's lead and label the freeway north of M-14 as I-96/I-275.
  I-96/I-275 runs southward for about two miles (3.2 km) before crossing into Wayne County at the interchange with 8 Mile Road near the Meadowbrook Country Club. The freeway curves to the east around Schoolcraft College; then, south of 5 Mile Road, I-96 meets the interchange with M-14 and I-275 where it turns to the east along the Jeffries Freeway. To the north and south sides of I-96 are a pair of service drives named Schoolcraft Road which follow the 4 Mile location on the Mile Road System for Detroit. To the north of the Jeffries are residential neighborhoods and to the south are commercial or industrial areas. At Inkster Road, the freeway crosses into Redford Township where it intersects US 24 (Telegraph Road) near Eliza Howell Park. East of the park, I-96 enters Detroit.
  Past the Outer Drive interchange, I-96 splits into a local-express lanes configuration. There are two carriageways in each direction, and the central ones have three lanes that bypass almost all of the exits while the outer ones have two lanes that have access to each exit. The Jeffries turns southeasterly and separates from Schoolcraft Road shifting one-half mile (0.80 km) to the south. The interchange with M-39 (Southfield Freeway) features slip ramps so that traffic can pass between the local and express lanes. Further east, I-96 turns northeasterly to cross Grand River Avenue at the southern end of M-5. I-96 curves over to the interchange with M-8 (Davison Avenue) and the local-express configuration ends as the freeway turns back to the south to cross over Grand River Avenue.
  From the crossing south of Davison, I-96 runs parallel to Grand River Avenue southeasterly with eight lanes total. The two run together as far as the interchange with I-94 (Edsel Ford Freeway) near Bishop Park. I-96 turns more south-southeasterly there through residential neighborhoods on Detroit's southeastern side. I-96 terminates at an interchange that connects it to I-75 (Fisher Freeway) and to the Ambassador Bridge.
caption: Satellite image of the interchange with M-5, I-275 and I-696 in Novi and Farmington Hills
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