M-14 is an east–west
state trunkline highway in the southeastern portion of the US state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. Entirely freeway, it runs for to connect
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
with
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
by way of a connection with
Interstate 96
Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 (US 31) and Bus ...
(I-96). The western terminus is at a
partial interchange
Terminology related to road transport—the transport of passengers or goods on paved (or otherwise improved) routes between places—is diverse, with variation between List of dialects of the English language, dialects of English. There may also ...
with
I-94 west of Ann Arbor. From there, the freeway curves around the north side of Ann Arbor and
runs concurrently with
US Highway 23 (US 23). East of that section, M-14 passes through woodlands and fields in
Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat is Ann Arbor. The county was authorized by legislation in 1822 and organized as a county in 1826.
Washtenaw ...
. In
Wayne County, the freeway returns to a suburban area of mixed residential neighborhoods and light industrial areas. It crosses two different rivers and a pair of rail lines as it approaches Detroit's inner suburbs, where it terminates at an interchange between I-96 and
I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to:
*Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida
*Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan
* Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full bel ...
.
When the state's highway system was first signed in 1919, there was a different M-14 that ran the length of the
Lower Peninsula of Michigan
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the ...
. This was later replaced by a pair of different
US Highways in the 1920s and 1930s. Another M-14 was designated that lasted until the 1940s. The current highway dates back to 1956 when it was designated along a series of roads that previously carried
US 12. During the 1960s and 1970s, M-14 was moved to the freeway alignment it currently uses; sections of the former route are still maintained by the
Michigan Department of Transportation
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate ...
(MDOT) as
unsigned highway
Road sign along Aurora_to_exit_the_freeway._The_road_at_this_exit_is_officially_designated_Sigurd_and_Aurora,_Utah">Aurora_to_exit_the_freeway._The_road_at_this_exit_is_officially_designated_Utah_State_Route_259">SR 259,_a_short_connector;_h ...
s.
Route description
The western terminus of M-14 is west of Ann Arbor, at exit 171 on I-94. This is a
partial interchange
Terminology related to road transport—the transport of passengers or goods on paved (or otherwise improved) routes between places—is diverse, with variation between List of dialects of the English language, dialects of English. There may also ...
; only traffic from eastbound I-94 can access eastbound M-14, and traffic from westbound M-14 must follow westbound I-94. From this junction, M-14 runs northeasterly through suburban
Scio Township. The freeway is bordered by residential subdivisions to the southeast and woodlands to the northwest. M-14 curves around to the east through an interchange that has ramps that connect Miller and Maple roads; the ramps connect to Maple Road through a pair of
roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
s. As it approaches the
Huron River, the freeway has an interchange with
Business US 23 (Bus. US 23); the two highways merge and run concurrently to the north over the river. Bus. US 23/M-14 then has an unusual
right-in/right-out
Right-in/right-out (RIRO) and left-in/left-out (LILO) refer to a type of three-way road intersection where turning movements of vehicles are restricted. A RIRO permits only right turns and a LILO permits only left turns. "Right-in" and "left-in" r ...
interchange that uses short connector roads to provide access to Barton Drive on the north side of the river. The freeway then continues north to an interchange with US 23. The business loop ends there, and M-14 turns eastward to follow the US 23 freeway around the north side of Ann Arbor.
[
The US 23/M-14 freeway runs for about before US 23 turns southward to run between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti while M-14 continues east through ]Ann Arbor Township
Ann Arbor Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,361 at the 2010 census. The township borders the city of Ann Arbor and contains numerous exclaves, but the two are admin ...
past Domino's Farms,[ the office complex for ]Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...
that was to be the home to Tom Monaghan's Leaning Tower of Pizza
The Leaning Tower of Pizza was a proposed 30-story slanted skyscraper that would have housed Domino's Pizza's operations at its Domino's Farms campus near Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Design
In the mid-1980s, Domino's Pizza mogul Tom Monaghan asked Tal ...
. East of that complex, M-14 runs through woodlands and fields north of the community of Dixboro. The freeway turns northeasterly after the interchange with M-153. At the Napier Road underpass, M-14 crosses into Wayne County.[
Once across the county line, the M-14 freeway runs through residential subdivisions from the western ]Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
suburbs. There is an interchange for Beck Road and M-14 expands to six lanes, turning back to the east.[ The freeway crosses a rail line operated by ]CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
The freeway passes Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
's Sheldon Road Plant near the Sheldon Road interchange. There is a crossing for another CSX rail line near the bridges over the River Rouge by the St. Johns Golf Course. The freeway through this area curves around a bit north of its previous course. As M-14 nears the Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
city line, it meets an interchange with I-96 and I-275 that marks the eastern terminus of M-14 in Plymouth Township.
M-14 is maintained by MDOT like other state highways in Michigan. As a part of these maintenance responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadways under its jurisdiction. These volumes are expressed using a metric called annual average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-14 were the 86,500 vehicles daily east of the Sheldon Road interchange in Plymouth Township; the lowest counts were the 26,641 vehicles per day west of the Miller Road interchange. All of M-14 has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.
History
Previous designations
In July 1919, M-14 was signed on a north–south route that ran most of the length of the Lower Peninsula, beginning at the Ohio state line south of Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
to end south of downtown Cheboygan. It mostly followed the path of present-day US 127, I-75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...
and M-27. This edition of M-14 was truncated in November 1926 when the US Highway System
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...
was formed. From the Jackson area north to Lansing, it was US 127; from Lansing to Cheboygan, it was US 27. In 1930, US 127 was rerouted to replace the remainder of M-14 when US 223 was created. Right afterwards, M-14 was designated from Battle Creek
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which en ...
to Edmore. This designation of M-14 was eliminated when M-66 was rerouted to replace it in the mid-1940s.
Current designation
In 1956, the portion of US 12 from the west side of Ann Arbor into Detroit was rerouted from surface streets to new stretches of freeways running south of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The former route of US 12, much of which was known as Plymouth Road, was retained as a trunkline and redesignated M-14. In 1964, a northern bypass connecting US 23 with M-153 was completed, and M-14 was rerouted onto the new freeway; the highway still ran through Ann Arbor along routes now designated Bus. US 23 and Business Loop I-94.[ The following year, the freeway was extended to its present western terminus at I-94, and M-14 is removed from the business routes and transferred to the expressway.]
In 1977, when the Jeffries Freeway (I-96) was completed, M-14 was shortened to have its eastern terminus at I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to:
*Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida
*Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan
* Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full bel ...
exit 28 in Plymouth Township, and the portion of Plymouth Road within the city of Detroit was returned to local control. The portion of Plymouth Road–Ann Arbor Road between I-275 and the city boundary with Redford Township
Redford, officially the Charter Township of Redford, is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township shares its eastern border with the city of Detroit. The population was 49,504 at the 2020 census.
History
S ...
was retained as an unsigned trunkline, maintained by the state to this day. In 1979, the final segment of the M-14 freeway, between M-153 and I-275 was completed. The former route of M-14 in Washtenaw County along Plymouth–Ann Arbor Road was returned to local control. The portion of Ann Arbor Road from the Wayne County line east to I-275 also became an unsigned state trunkline, also still maintained by MDOT.[
]
Exit list
See also
*
References
External links
M-14
at Michigan Highways
{{DEFAULTSORT:M014
014
Freeways and expressways in Michigan
Transportation in Washtenaw County, Michigan
Transportation in Wayne County, Michigan