M-6, or the Paul B. Henry Freeway, is a east–west
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
and
state trunkline highway in the United States that serves portions of southern
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and eastern
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
counties south of
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
. Although the freeway is named for
Paul B. Henry, local residents and the press continue to use the original name, South Beltline as well on occasion. The freeway connects
Interstate 196
Interstate 196 (I-196) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs for in the US state of Michigan. It is a state trunkline highway that links Benton Harbor, South Haven, Holland, and Grand Rapids. In Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan counties, I-1 ...
(I-196) on the west with
I-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 Bu ...
on the east. M-6 also provides a connection to
U.S. Highway 131 (US 131) in the middle of its corridor while running through several
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
on the south side of the
Grand Rapids metropolitan area
The Grand Rapids metropolitan area is a triangular shaped Metro Triplex, in West Michigan, which fans out westward from the primary hub city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the other two metro hubs of Muskegon and Holland. The metropolitan area h ...
in
Western Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...
. Each end is in a rural area while the central section has suburban development along the trunkline.
The freeway was originally conceived in the 1960s. It took 32 years to approve, plan, finance, and build the freeway from the time that the state first authorized funding in 1972 to the time of the ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2004 that opened the South Beltline to traffic. The project cost around $700 million or around $35 million per mile (approximately $22 million per kilometer). Initial construction started in November 1997, with the first phase opened in November 2001. The full freeway was opened in November 2004. The first phase of construction was completed in
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
, while the second and third phases were built in concrete. The project was built with two firsts: the first
single-point urban interchange
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...
(SPUI; ) in Michigan, and a new technique to apply the pavement markings, embedding them into the concrete to reduce the chance of a snowplow scraping them off. In advance of the opening of the freeway to traffic, 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) allowed the public to walk or bike the South Beltline in an open-house event called the "Southbelt Shuffle".
Route description
![M-6 & I-196 Interchange2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/M-6_%26_I-196_Interchange2.jpg)
M-6 starts at exit 64 on I-196 in
Ottawa County near
Hudsonville. The freeway runs southeast from the interchange through the rural
Georgetown and
Jamestown townships toward the county line.
Through this area, MDOT traffic surveys measured a traffic count of 27,117 vehicles on average per day, the lowest along the freeway, in 2010.
At Kenowa Avenue, the South Beltline crosses into
Byron Township in
Kent County. The freeway corridor is bounded on each side by farmland, scattered subdivisions, and small pockets of woodland. Near the Wilson Avenue interchange, M-6 curves to the northeast around the edge of the Ironwood Golf Course and heads for the interchange with Byron Center Avenue. On either side of the freeway at Byron Center Avenue, there are two hospitals, Metro Health and St. Mary's Southwest, the former located on the very southern edge of the city of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
. Continuing east, the beltline curves to the southeast and into the
cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...
complex at US 131.
This "mammoth" interchange stretches over a half mile (0.8 km) in one direction and over a mile (1.6 km) in the other,
[As measured by mainline freeway lane lengths.] encompassing 27 bridges and 18 retaining walls. This makes it the largest freeway interchange in
Western Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...
.
There are four overpasses which carry M-6 over the US 131 freeway: two for the main
carriageway
A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...
s in each direction and two for the
collector-distributor lanes on each side. The auxiliary lanes funnel the traffic using the interchange off the main carriageways to eliminate conflicts between merging streams of traffic. In the eastbound direction, the collector-distributor lane also has access to a ramp for traffic bound for 68th Street, which runs parallel to, and south of, the M-6 freeway. No such access to 68th Street is provided for westbound M-6 traffic, although 68th Street traffic can access each direction of M-6 or US 131.
![US 131, M-6, 68th St interchange](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/US_131%2C_M-6%2C_68th_St_interchange.jpg)
East of US 131, M-6 crosses over Division Avenue and enters
Gaines Township through a series of sound barrier walls as the freeway ramps merge back into the main lanes.
This area had the highest traffic counts in 2011 at 55,236 vehicles per day.
Near Kalamazoo Avenue, the freeway passes through an area with retail businesses and movie theaters on each side of the interchange; to the northeast is
East Kentwood High School
East Kentwood High School (EKHS) is a public high school located just outside the city of Kentwood, Michigan, United States. It is part of the Kentwood Public Schools district, working together with the Crossroads High School, an alternative l ...
. On the approach to the East Paris Avenue underpass, M-6 curves first to the northeast and then back to the southeast, passing near one of
Steelcase
Steelcase Inc. is an American manufacturer of furniture, casegoods, seating, and space solutions for offices, hospitals, classrooms, and residential interiors. It is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
History
Originally known as The ...
's office buildings, the pyramid-shaped Corporate Development Center. The freeway begins to curve to the northeast as it crosses into
Caledonia Township, with an interchange for
M-37 (Broadmoor Avenue) and an overpass for 60th Street. M-6 curves around the southeast side of the
Gerald R. Ford International Airport in
Cascade Township. As the South Beltline nears I-96, it crosses 48th Street next to the Thornapple Pointe Golf Course. The carriageway splits into ramps for each direction of I-96, the ramps to eastbound I-96 crossing over the
Thornapple River
The Thornapple River (Ottawa: ''Sowanquesake'', "Forked River") (GNIS ID #) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of Michigan's longest river, the ...
in the process. This interchange marks the eastern terminus of the Paul B. Henry South Beltline Freeway.
The entire length of the freeway is listed on the
National Highway System,
a system of roads important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility.
The
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
along M-6 includes a pedestrian path known as the
Frederik Meijer Trail
The Frederik Meijer M-6 Trail, formerly called the M-6 Trail, is a rail trail in Kent County, Michigan. It connects the Paul Henry-Thornapple Rail Trail with the Kent Trails in Byron Township, Michigan.
Description
The trail starts at a junc ...
. Previously called the M-6 Trail, it links the
Kent Trails west of Byron Center Avenue in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
with the
Paul Henry Rail Trail
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
at 60th Street and Wing Avenue by Paris Park in
Kentwood.
History
Earlier designations
![M-6 in 1936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/M-6_in_1936.jpg)
The first appearance of M-6 was in 1926 as a road in
Keweenaw County
Keweenaw County (, ; , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, the state's northernmost county. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the ...
in the
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
. The highway ran from
US 41 at
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
to north of
Eagle River.
The
Michigan State Highway Department
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 ...
redesignated the highway as M-111 in 1938, and it was redesignated two years later to become a part of the route of
M-26.
In the late 1970s, during the second phase of construction of the
I-696 (Walter P. Reuther Freeway) in
Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. State of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and its surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the ...
,
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
efforts and lawsuits attempted to block construction of the central section. If successful, the efforts would have left the freeway with a gap in the middle between the first (western) and second (eastern) phases of construction.
During this time, MDOT assigned M-6 to the eastern section of the freeway under construction. Signs were erected along the service roads that followed 11 Mile Road to connect the already built
stack interchange
A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...
at
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 ...
east to
I-94.
By the time the eastern freeway segment was completed in 1979, the signage for M-6 was removed and replaced with I-696 signage,
leaving an gap in the I-696 freeway until completion of the central section in 1989.
Current freeway
Planning
The South Beltline Freeway near Grand Rapids was a project that took about 32 years to complete. The idea dates back to the 1940s, but serious proposals were not made until the 1960s.
The 1955 planning map for the Grand Rapids area Interstate Highways included a freeway roughly along the M-6 corridor before I-96 and I-196 were shifted north and east to their current locations.
An increase in the state
gas tax
A fuel tax (also known as a petrol, gasoline or gas tax, or as a fuel duty) is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuels used to power agricultural v ...
was approved in 1972 with the goal to finance local road projects in the state, including the South Beltline. The project was anticipated to cost $30–100 million (equivalent to $– million in ) in June 1975 with an expected groundbreaking in 1982–85.
The highway was studied in January 1981 for $144,000 (equivalent to $ in ).
The choice of consultants on the project was controversial; local planners felt that MDOT picked BKI Inc. only because they used a
minority-owned subcontractor and not because they would be qualified for the assignment.
As this study was initiated, the route for the proposed freeway was located between 60th and 68th streets with a western end in
Hudsonville and an eastern end in
Lowell Township. The consultants were asked to study a full
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
and a
limited access
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
design. One final option was a "no-build" alternative; under this option, existing roads would be upgraded but no new roads would be built. The
City of Grand Rapids opposed the freeway while the suburbs and townships south and west of the city supported it. City officials were concerned about the impact to commercial and industrial business in Grand Rapids. Hudsonville's city manager favored the proposal as a benefit to local vegetable producers who shipped produce to Detroit or Cleveland. Other supporters, such as the
Georgetown Township supervisor, were concerned that delays in starting the project could increase costs. State and local officials expected the freeway in January 1981 to cost between $40–100 million (equivalent to $– million in ). The road was to be started no sooner than 1990.
![South Beltline '99(2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/South_Beltline_%2799%282%29.jpg)
The boundaries for the highway corridor were determined by the consultants in April 1982, running between 60th and 84th streets, "dipping like a hammock beneath the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming".
The results of the study by BKI were criticized by local planners in May 1982, who called the study "shabby and unprofessional work", and asked the state to fire the consulting firm.
Local residents distributed 2,000 fliers to their neighbors in opposition to the freeway. The South Belt Local Advisory Board criticized BKI's 110-page study report as "filled with errors"; the consultants' earlier 26-page paper had been rejected by the board and MDOT as "unusable".
An editorial in ''
The Grand Rapids Press
''The Grand Rapids Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the largest of the eight Booth newspapers. It is sold for $1.50 daily and $7.99 on Sunday.
AccuWeather provides weather content to the ''Grand Rapids ...
'' stated that the study did not help advance the project in the area, instead opening the proposed freeway up to new controversies. Doubts about the state's budget in 1982 to build the roadway combined with issues over the consultants and their study results.
A second citizens group, the South Belt Citizens Committee, was formed in July 1982 to gain additional public information on the project and supplement the work of the other groups, including the South Belt Local Advisory Board.
BKI was fired as consultant on the project by MDOT on September 9, 1982. The switch to a new consultant delayed further study because of the timetable to take bids and interview the candidates. In the interim, work was shifted to local and state planners until a new consultant could be retained in an effort to minimize the delays involved. These local projects were focused on updating the information and maps from BKI's study and refining the scope of the highway's corridor.
Gaines, Cascade, and Caledonia townships and the city of Kentwood circulated a survey amongst their communities' planning commissions and elected boards in 1982. The survey showed an inconclusive preference for a limited-access highway in what was termed a "gut level reaction" to the proposed roadway.
The South Belt Citizens Committee actively started to oppose the roadway during the fall of 1982, pressing local candidates for political office to take positions on the project. The group called the roadway a "holocaust" in its mailings to the candidates.
Future Lieutenant Governor
Dick Posthumus, then a member of the
Michigan State Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...
, called for an end to the studies in 1983;
he would later reverse and become one of the project's biggest supporters.
MDOT hired a new consultant, Schimpeler/Coradino Associates, in 1984 to study the proposed freeway.
The consultant recommended the freeway in March 1985. The South Beltline was included in the ten-year highway plan in 1986. By 1989, the state wanted to set the route in 1991 with construction starting in 1993. The freeway was studied as a possible
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
in June 1991 after three alternative routes were proposed the previous year. That September, the final route was set with a projected start date in 1997. The toll road concept was revived in September 1995 to offset the failure of a proposed gas tax increase. As a cost-saving measure, the number of interchanges was reduced to four from eight in June 1996. When a gas tax increase was passed in 1997, Governor
John Engler
John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he later worked for Business Roundtable, where '' The Hill'' ...
promised at least seven access points for the freeway.
The South Beltline was touted as "
utting
Utting am Ammersee (until 1953 just Utting) is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany.
History
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world ...
travel time around Grand Rapids virtually in half".
Phase I
![M-6, M-37 interchange incomplete](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/M-6%2C_M-37_interchange_incomplete.jpg)
Proposals for the South Beltline Freeway were nearly 25 years old by the time initial construction was started in 1997.
The
Michigan State Legislature
The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution ...
named the South Beltline around the same time for the Congressman
Paul B. Henry, who died in office in 1993, serving in
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
's old US House seat.
The cost of the construction of new roads like the South Beltline was a campaign issue when Engler ran for re-election against
Geoffrey Fieger
Geoffrey Nels Fieger (born December 23, 1950) is an American attorney based in Southfield, Michigan. Fieger is the senior partner at the law firm of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Harrington P.C., and is an occasional legal commentator for NBC and MS ...
in 1998.
The entire freeway was projected to open by 2008, with the first phase opening in 2002. MDOT gave the South Beltline its numerical designation on the July 1999 edition of the state map, marking M-6 for the first time as a dotted line, to denote it was "under construction".
The legislature approved Engler's "Build Michigan III" program in 2000; the plan accelerated road projects in the state.
The capital outlay for the year was $82 million (equivalent to $ in ).
Condemnation proceedings were initiated in the
Kent County Circuit Court in 1999 to clear the way for the acquisitions. Land that contained homes, farms, trailer parks, and businesses was purchased by MDOT to acquire the right-of-way needed for the freeway. The land needed measured wide and long. Land acquisitions for the South Beltline Freeway were completed in July 2001. Construction started later in the fall of 2001 on the second and third phases of the project.
The first leg of the South Beltline Freeway, located between
M-37 (Broadmoor Avenue) and
I-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 Bu ...
, was finished six months early. Dry summer weather allowed the roadbed contractors to finish their portion of the section of the freeway early, earning them a $300,000 bonus (equivalent to $ in ).
The overpasses for the remaining sections of the freeway were completed while the first phase was under construction, leaving the interchanges at US 131 and I-196 and the connecting roadbed to be completed at that time.
The first section was paved in
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
after MDOT reversed the decision to pave the whole freeway in
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
.
That stretch of freeway opened to traffic on November 20, 2001.
The state kept the overall project in an accelerated status headed into the next phases in 2002.
Phases II and III
![M-6, Kalamazoo Ave Interchange](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/M-6%2C_Kalamazoo_Ave_Interchange.jpg)
Construction of the remaining phases between US 131 and M-37 and between I-196 and US 131 was started on April 1, 2002. Area roads that crossed the path of the new freeway were closed to traffic with posted detours so that work could begin on the roadbed for the freeway.
The last major project for the freeway was to replace bridge beams in the overpasses from westbound I-196 to eastbound M-6.
Design flaws were found in 2002 in the size of the beams in the bridges over eastbound I-196 and the ramp from westbound M-6 to westbound I-196. The replacement was originally supposed to close traffic along I-196 over a weekend in 2004, but kept a lane closed for a full week, backing up traffic on the Interstate for ; completion of the work was delayed when human error caused a shortage of nuts and bolts.
![Wilson Avenue overpass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Wilson_Avenue_overpass.jpg)
MDOT hosted an open house along the unopened section of M-6 between Kalamazoo and Byron Center avenues. This event took place on October 2, 2004, and was billed as the "Southbelt Shuffle", allowing the public to walk or bike along the freeway. The event was planned to draw attention to the M-6 Trail that runs parallel to the freeway.
Some event participants brought their horses for the chance to ride on the freeway.
The whole freeway was opened to traffic on November 17, 2004, after a ribbon cutting ceremony.
When opened, reconstruction work was still being completed on overpass bridges at the I-196 interchange on the west end.
The entire project cost $700 million (equivalent to $ in ) to complete over the five-year construction period, about $35 million/mi (approximately $22 million/km, equivalent to $/mi or $/km in ).
When the freeway was opened, it was the first in the state of Michigan to use a
SPUI
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...
located at the Kalamazoo Avenue exit.
All of the bridges and sound barrier walls were painted sienna beige as part of a "color theme" to the freeway. MDOT also used a new technique to recess the pavement markings into the concrete, designed to reduce the likelihood that snowplows would scrape them off.
The signs are in miles, but "the entire M-6 freeway was designed and constructed in metric", according to MDOT manager Suzette Peplinski.
The final ramps opened to traffic on December 9, 2004.
After construction
![Frederik Meijer Trail & M-6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Frederik_Meijer_Trail_%26_M-6.jpg)
MDOT added the completed M-6 to the state maps in an updated printing in June 2005. At the time, the various online mapping services still did not show a complete freeway in eastern Ottawa or southern Kent counties. Services such as
Mapquest
MapQuest (stylized as mapquest) is an American free online web mapping service. It was launched in 1996 as the first commercial web mapping service. MapQuest vies for market share with competitors such as Google Maps and Here.
History
MapQuest's ...
and
Yahoo! Maps
Yahoo! Maps was a free online mapping portal provided by Yahoo! Functionality included local weather powered by The Weather Channel, printing maps, and local reviews powered by Yelp. It shut down on June 30, 2015. For a time in 2019, Yahoo! Maps ...
rely on
Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas is a Netherlands-based company founded in 1984 which delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and Automotive navigation system, in-car navigation systems, and provi ...
out of New Hampshire for their mapping information, which, in turn, relies on agencies like MDOT to update their data. MDOT's map update came out nearly eight months after the initial opening due to its inclusion in a large-scale update to the state highway map.
A year after the freeway opened, traffic volumes along parallel roads like 44th, 56th and 68th streets dropped 40–50%.
At the same time, roads with interchanges along the freeway saw increased traffic. Wilson Avenue experienced a 120% increase and sections of Byron Center Avenue jumped 100% in traffic levels a month after M-6 opened.
Property values in the townships surrounding the freeway increased 11.3–12.4% by 2006 as a result of development attached to the freeway.
Local officials credited the freeway for increased access to the area, driving housing starts as residents flocked to the communities for their schools and quality of life.
In 2007, the Metro Health Village, a commercial development centered around the Byron Center Avenue exit and the hospital opened. Described as being similar to a mall with the hospital as a tenant, the village features restaurants, shops, offices and a hotel. Metro Health relocated from Grand Rapids to the location in Wyoming in the face of opposition to planned expansions of their previous location.
Since opening, even though the freeway was officially named for Paul Henry, the original South Beltline name is still in use.
Reactions to the new freeway were not all positive. In a special editorial in ''The Grand Rapids Press'' after the freeway opened in 2004, local resident Curt MacDougall summarized the criticisms of the new freeway. He cited the loss of rural farmland and wetlands as a negative effect of the highway. The editorial also discussed that the freeway does decrease travel times for some residents, but it will mean increased development. That development will mean further
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
, and could spur the creation of additional highways in the area.
The
M-6 Trail was constructed in a $3.5 million project (equivalent to $ in ) that started in 2008. The goal was to create a path linking the
Kent Trails with the
Paul Henry Rail Trail
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
. The M-6 Trail was the brainchild of Gaines Township Supervisor Don Hilton, Sr. He had pushed to have the path included in the original freeway construction and opened with the rest of the South Beltline. The trail project was funded by $2.9 million (equivalent to $ in ) in federal grants and $300,000 (equivalent to $ in ) from the
Frederik and Lena Meijer Foundation. The balance came from Kent County and the townships.
Work on the trail was completed in November 2008.
In 2009, the asphalt section of M-6 had to be repaired. This section of roadway between East Paris Avenue and 48th Street was rated poorly by the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, while the concrete west of Broadmoor Avenue had favorable marks. MDOT budgeted $2 million in repairs on top of previous crack-related fixes that were handled by the original pavement contractor under a warranty in 2006. The local press described the stretch of road as "troublesome" in relation to pavement quality issues.
Legislation was signed by Governor
Rick Snyder
Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...
on December 27, 2014, to name the section of M-6 between Byron Center and Kalamazoo avenues the David John Warsen Memorial Highway. Warsen, a
US Navy SEAL
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, was killed in a helicopter accident in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
in 2012. This section of the highway was dedicated on August 15, 2015.
Exit list
See also
*
Maryland Route 200
Maryland Route 200 (MD 200), also known as the Intercounty Connector or ICC, is an , six-lane toll road in the U.S. state of Maryland. A controlled-access highway, it connects Gaithersburg in Montgomery County and Laurel in Prince George's Cou ...
, a freeway bypass in Maryland that has a similar history
*
Illiana Expressway
The Illiana Expressway, also known as the Illiana Corridor, was a controversial proposed toll road in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. Formal environmental impact statement studies were begun in April 2011 and were led jointly by ...
, a conceptual highway south of Chicago with a similar controversy
Notes
References
External links
*
M-6at Michigan Highways
M-6on the Keweenaw Peninsula
at Michigan Highways
{{DEFAULTSORT:M006
Freeways and expressways in Michigan
006
Transportation in Ottawa County, Michigan
Transportation in Kent County, Michigan