 M-97 runs through an urbanized area in the larger Metro Detroit. The highway starts at M-3 / Gratiot Avenue and follows Gunston Street northwesterly. This intersection is one block northeast of the Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit. At McNichols Road, which forms part of 6 Mile Road in the Mile Road System, M-97 turns north on Hoover Street, and follows it north past Bessy Playground at 7 Mile Road. It continues north on Hoover until it turns onto Groesbeck Highway, just one block south of M-102 / 8 Mile Road.
