# Talk:Business routes of Interstate 96

Based on my reading of information at the Michigan Highways site -- this article may be misnamed and might contain some inaccurate information. 

According to the 1977 entry for I-96 the unsigned designation "Old I-96" is at the southeastern end of M-5, or the portion of Grand River Ave past exit 185 that had formerly been BS I-96.
According to the Notes section for M-5, this unsigned portion had an internal designation of "Old BS I-96".
According to this, the unsigned internal designation of "Old I-96" was the old route of US 16 through downtown Farmington
According to this, the designation "Old BS I-96" was the portion in Detroit.
I don't see any mention anywhere of an "Old BL I-96" designation. I suspect that 1 above should actually read "Old BS I-96", since that portion of Grand River Ave. was never ever designated as "I-96" and that would make it consistent with 2 and 4. However, I'm skeptical that the route through downtowm Farmington is designated as "Old I-96" since that also was never designated as I-96. I could believe "Old BL I-96" (which is what this article claims), but I don't see any support for that claim at Michigan Highways. This also lends support for the designation in Farmington being "Old BL I-96" and in Detroit as "Old BS I-96". older≠wiser 02:41, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)

The simple answers are... that unsigned trunkline designations within MDOT have been known to vary over the years and sometimes are not set in stone and a bit of clarification was necessary on the Michigan Highways website. To that end:
The 1977 entry for I-96 has been clarified to note that the portion of Grand River from I-96 Exit 185 southeasterly into downtown Detroit has been designated "OLD BS I-96" since 1977. (Sorry 'bout that.)
No changes.
Yep—this is the fun one. I have two MDOT maps which label Grand River through downtown Farmington as "OLD I-96." Of course, this very well could have been an error on MDOT's part, but it also may not be since these unsigned designations are largely for internal purposes and need not make complete sense to the general public as signed designations (should) do.
Grand River from I-96 Exit 185 southeasterly is, as of June 2005 (and from an internal MDOT source), still referred to as "OLD BS I-96."
As to the discussion if the listing should be titled "OLD BL I-96" or "OLD I-96," that presents an interesting quandry. If, indeed, it is officially designated internally at MDOT as "OLD I-96," the title may not be correct. However, the last route designation this highway held was "BL I-96," so "OLD BL I-96" could very well be considered correct. Keep in mind that what one might consider an "official" designation for unsigned trunklines within MDOT is open to interpretation. Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter... CBessert 04:38, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

As cited on the M-5 listing on michiganhighways.org, and as spotted in the field by me, MDOT has evidently finally decided to extend the M-5 designation over the route of Old BS I-96 all the way to Cass Avenue. Curiously, there has not been any formal announcement from MDOT, as they seem to have been more focused on major projects such as "Revive 275". Nevertheless, it might be time to consider appending the route listing from here onto the M-5 (Michigan highway) page's listing, and updating this page to reflect the changes. Kyojikasshu (talk) 01:40, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Except that we can't use that website as a source (it's self-published) and your spotchecking fits the definition of original research, Kyojikasshu. The 2016 MDOT map doesn't label Grand River Avenue southeast of I-96. The department's Physical Reference Finder Application website does not color Grand River Avenue southeast of I-96 orange like other signed trunklines, although it does indicate that it is still at trunkline when you toggle that option. Based on that, we would need some other source to change anything at the moment.
Also, even if M-5 were extended, we would need to retain the listing here as that section of highway was still a business route of I-96. After all, Business routes of U.S. Route 10 in Michigan still has a Pontiac section even though that business loop has been a Bus. US 24 for 30+ years. Imzadi 1979 →  02:28, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
Two words I used that you apparently didn't notice: consider and update. I never said anything about removing the listing here altogether. But, if we have to wait on MDOT to actually publish the update... then so be it. Kyojikasshu (talk) 04:49, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

The description of this particularly rerouting is confusing:
"In 1963, BL I-96 was rerouted onto the first portion of the I-496 freeway to be constructed southeast of the city. This rerouting would last until 1966 when it was transferred back to the original routing with the completion of the US 127 freeway between Lansing and Mason. BL I-96 was rerouted along M-43/Bus. M-78 to the I-496/M-78 freeway and back to I-96 at exit 106. Once the US 127 freeway was completed, BL I-96 was rerouted back along the former US 127 routing to I-96."
The second-to-last sentence seems to be out of sequence, and it confuses things, regardless. And the last sentence seems to simply repeat the second sentence, here, which further confuses things. Please whoever wrote this rewrite this to clarify things. Criticalthinker (talk) 06:45, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

Yes, this is out of sequence and needs to be rewritten where you describe the 1963-1966 routing right after noting the 1963 rerouting, instead of describing the 1963 rerouting after you note the 1966 rerouting. Criticalthinker (talk) 10:53, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

Can someone explain the different colors that the routes have? NintendoTTTEfan2005 (talk) 05:53, 30 October 2023 (UTC)

Nothing, I imagine. It's just a simple way to differentiate the non-contiguous routes, I guess. Criticalthinker (talk) 10:49, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
I think its the different route types. Titan877 (talk) 18:58, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
Explain. I thought maybe after you mentioned it it could distinguish where this route runs by itself and concurrently with other kinds of trunklines, but that doesn't seem to be the case, either. Criticalthinker (talk) 09:26, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
It seems that one color is for business spurs (pink), one for business loops (red), and the other for old (decommissioned) business routes (blue), though the last one in Detroit doesn't follow this convention. Titan877 (talk) 14:38, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
The spur in Portland is also decommissioned. It appears as though it was removed in 2007, so perhaps the map just wasn't updated? I found this out by looking at the Portland section in this article. NintendoTTTEfan2005 (talk) 22:46, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
If that's the case, then this all makes sense:
Existing business loops: Lansing, Howell
Existing business spurs/unsigned state trunkline: Farmington
Demcommissioned business spurs/unsigned state trunkline: Detroit, Portland & Muskegon Criticalthinker (talk) 11:03, 20 December 2023 (UTC)