Interstate 296: Route Description

Interstate 296
Unsigned Interstate Highway in Michigan, United States
Interstate 296 (I-296) is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state

of Michigan. It is a north–south state trunkline highway that runs for 3.43 miles
(5.52 km) entirely within the Grand Rapids area. Its termini are I-196 near
downtown Grand Rapids and I-96 on the north side of Grand Rapids in Walker. For
most of its length, the Interstate runs concurrently with U.S. Highway
131 (US 131), which continues as a freeway built to Interstate Highway
standards north and south of the shorter I-296. The highway was first proposed in
the late 1950s and opened in December 1962, but the Michigan Department of
Transportation (MDOT) has since eliminated all signage for I-296 and removed the
designation from their official state map. The designation is therefore unsigned, but
still listed on the Interstate Highway System route log maintained by the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA).
Quick Facts: Route information, Length ...
Route description
I-296 begins at the I-196 interchange west of the Grand River and downtown Grand
Rapids. For a short distance within the interchange, the three northbound lanes are
on the left and the three southbound lanes are on the right, contrary to the normal
traffic arrangement in the US. This anomaly is reversed north of the ramps for I-
196 as the southbound lanes pass over the northbound lanes. Running parallel to
the Grand River on the west bank, the freeway designation begins across the river
from the 6th Street Bridge Park and Belknap Hill north of the Gerald R. Ford
Presidential Museum and the DeVos Place Convention Center. The west side of the
freeway faces residential neighborhoods and the east side borders commercial
businesses and the river. South of the Ann Street interchange, the highway crosses
a line of the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad. After crossing both the railroad and
Ann Street, the highway widens to allow for a grassy median. The freeway leaves
Grand Rapids and enters Walker north of Ann Street.
Approaching I-96 from the south, the freeway passes east of the DeltaPlex Arena,
and the median widens further across the river from Comstock Riverside Park in
Walker. An extra lane is added on the left, widening the freeway to four lanes.
Unsigned I-296 occupies the left two lanes that form the left exit for I-96 from
US 131. At the split between I-296 and US 131, I-296 curves northwest, and
US 131 curves northeast to follow a bend in the Grand River. Once I-296 diverges
from US 131, the highway crosses a rail line owned by CSX Transportation and
passes over West River Drive. To the northwest of these crossings, exits emerge on
the right for eastbound I-96 and the left for northbound M-37 (Alpine Avenue).
Past these exits, I-296 merges into westbound I-96 and terminates. Southbound
unsigned I-296 begins where the ramps to US 131 southbound split from eastbound
I-96 at the Alpine Avenue overpass, merging with southbound US 131 north of
Ann Street.
I-296/US 131 viewed from across the Grand River

History
Planning map for the Grand Rapids area freeways from 1955
The development of a freeway along the modern-day I-296/US 131 corridor was

proposed in the 1950s. The 1955 General Location of National System of Interstate
Highways, an early platform for what would become the Interstate Highway
System, contained an inset of the proposed freeways in and around the Grand
Rapids area including a north–south freeway near the downtown area. Designated
as part of the Interstate Highway System in 1957, I-296's construction was funded
by the federal government.
The US 131 freeway was officially opened at 10 a.m. on December 17, 1962,
between Pearl Street and (at the time) the I-196/US 16 freeway north of downtown.
This freeway section encompassed all of I-296, which would connect I-196 north of
town with I-96 downtown. (The I-96 and I-196 designations were later flipped west
of Grand Rapids.) M-37 was relocated in Grand Rapids to utilize I-96 around the
northeast side of town instead of I-296/US 131 in 1969.
At the end of the 1970s, MDOT took part in a FHWA-backed initiative called the
Positive Guidance Demonstration Project, and the two agencies audited signage
practices in the vicinity of the I-96/M-37 and I-296/US 131 interchange in Walker.
MDOT determined that usage of the I-296 designation was "a potential source of
confusion for motorists." FHWA agreed with the department's proposal to
eliminate all signage and public map references to the designation in April
1979. MDOT then petitioned the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on June 22, 1979, for their permission to make
the change, saying "it is felt that the I-296 designation serves no useful purpose
other than to designate an Interstate routing." AASHTO approved the request on
October 13. On October 24 that year, MDOT also requested formal permission
from the FHWA to remove all signage and map references to I-296. The FHWA
granted permission on December 3, 1979, on the condition that MDOT would
continue to use the designation on official documents. The approval explicitly
retained the highway in the Interstate system for funding and other purposes. The
last state map to show the I-296 designation was published in 1979, as the 1980
map lacks any reference to the designation. Other maps, like the one published by
the Kent County Road Commission, occasionally show I-296, and FHWA includes
the designation in their Route Log and Finder List for the Interstate Highway
System.
Exit list
The entire highway is in Kent County.
More information: Location, mi ...
See also
 Michigan Highways portal
Footnotes
1. I-296 was constructed and included in the Interstate Highway System before 1978.
The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978 provided that all Interstate construction
authorized under previous amendments to the system would be funded by the federal
government but additional highway mileage added under 23 U.S.C. § 103(c)(4)(A) would not
be supported by the same allocation of funds.
2. Most of I-296 is concurrent with US 131 and uses the exit numbers of the latter.
References
External links
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Interstate 296

Unsigned Interstate Highway in Michigan, United States

Interstate 296 (I-296) is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state

I-296/US 131 viewed from across the Grand River

The development of a freeway along the modern-day I-296/US 131 corridor was

View talk page

M-11 (Michigan highway)

M-45 (Michigan highway)

M-39 (Michigan highway)

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.

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