Interstate 194 (Michigan)
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Interstate 194 (I-194) is a , north–south
auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which conn ...
between downtown
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 ...
and I-94 in the southern portion of the city. The highway has been designated the Sojourner Truth Downtown Parkway by the state after the abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who was active in the Battle Creek area. Locals refer to the freeway by its semi-official nickname, "The Penetrator". I-194 is the only three-digit spur or loop route off I-94 in the state of Michigan and runs concurrently throughout its length with M-66, which continues both north and south from the termini of I-194. The freeway was initially opened in 1961 and completed in its current form in 1966. The highway was named in 1976 for Truth in honor of her local connections to the area.


Route description

Part of the much longer highway, I-194 starts when M-66 widens out to a full freeway just south of I-94 near Beckley Road. The start of I-194 is marked by the full cloverleaf interchange. It is numbered as exit 98 along I-94 and exit 1 using I-194's mileage along the I-194/M-66 freeway. The roadway crosses Minges Creek north of the I-94 interchange. To the west of the freeway are residential subdivisions; the eastern side is marked by gently-rolling, wooded terrain. This section of I-194 carries 26,300 vehicles on average day according to surveys done 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 Interstat ...
(MDOT) in 2007. Of these vehicles, 1,200 trucks were included in the totals. After crossing Golden Avenue, I-194 curves to the northwest to meet the M-96 (Columbia Avenue) interchange. The freeway runs underneath the Columbia Avenue overpass before running parallel to the west bank of the
Kalamazoo River The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...
. The freeway crosses the river at the southern end of Lower Mill Pond. Curving back around to the northeast, I-194 meets Business Loop I-94 (BL I-94, Dickman Road). Here the traffic averages 24,400 vehicles a day. The freeway ends at an at-grade intersection with Hamblin Avenue, and continuing north of the intersection, the highway becomes just M-66. BL I-94 runs east of the freeway end on Hamblin Avenue to connect to Michigan Avenue. All of I-194 is listed on the National Highway System, a system of strategically important highways, and it is
concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with M-66 for the length of the freeway.


History

From its initial opening in 1961 until 1964, I-194 also carried the BL I-94 and M-78 designations. BL I-94 was rerouted in Battle Creek to Martin Luther King Drive and M-78 in 1964, and M-78 was replaced by M-66 in 1965. The last change to the I-194 routing was the extension of the northern end of the freeway from Columbia Avenue to Michigan Avenue in 1966. At the time, MDOT's predecessor, 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 ...
, called all
auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which conn ...
s "Penetrator" when planning the freeway network in the state; a name which stuck to I-194. Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797, Sojourner Truth settled in the Battle Creek area in the 1840s. She travelled through the Midwest and
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
speaking against slavery and for women's rights. She lived in the area until her death in 1883. Her connection to the state of Michigan was honored by the state American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in 1976 which urged the Michigan Legislature to name a highway in her honor. Public Act 93 of 1976 named all of M-66 in
Calhoun County Calhoun County is the name of several counties in the United States of America named after U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun: * Calhoun County, Alabama * Calhoun County, Arkansas * Calhoun County, Florida * Calhoun County, Georgia * Calhoun Cou ...
as the Sojourner Truth Memorial Highway. The highway was dedicated to her on May 21, 1976. The Cereal City Development Corporation (CCDC) asked the Legislature to amend the memorial designation in 1993. They felt the highway was better known to locals as The Penetrator, and they wished to restore emphasis to Truth, they asked for the "Sojourner Truth Downtown Parkway" name to be applied to "M-66 between Interstate 94 and Hamblin". The Legislature passed Public Act 208 of 1993 to affect the change, restoring "the link between Sojourner Truth and the City of Battle Creek, which was once the center of abolitionist sentiment in the state".


Exit list


See also

*


References


External links


I-194
at Michigan Highways

at Kurumi.com

at Interstate Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:I194 94-1 Michigan 94-1 1 (Michigan) Transportation in Calhoun County, Michigan Sojourner Truth