M-39 (Michigan highway)

M-39
Southfield Road, Southfield Freeway
M-39 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length:	17.006 mi[1] (27.369 km)
Existed:	c. 1959[2][3] – present
Major junctions
South end:	Lafayette Boulevard in Lincoln Park
	I-75 in Lincoln Park I-94 in Allen Park US 12 in Dearborn I-96 in Detroit M-102 on the Detroit–Southfield border
North end:	M-10 in Southfield
Location
Counties:	Wayne, Oakland
Highway system
Michigan State Trunkline Highway System Interstate US State Byways ← M-38 M-40 →

M-39 is a 16 miles (26 km) long state trunkline highway in Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan that runs from Lincoln Park, on the south end, to Southfield on the north. The official southern terminus of M-39 is at the corner of Southfield Road and Lafayette Boulevard in Lincoln Park, one block southeast of the junction of Interstate 75 (I-75, Fisher Freeway) and two blocks northwest of M-85 (Fort Street). From there the highway heads northward. The first 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of the highway follows Southfield Road, a divided highway in the Downriver area. It then transitions into the Southfield Freeway, which is a 13.7 miles (22.0 km) long freeway that runs from Allen Park north through Dearborn, and then the west side of Detroit, to Southfield. The northern terminus is at M-10 (Lodge Freeway) in Southfield.

The current M-39 is the third highway to bear the designation. The first dated back to the origins of the state highway system in 1919 and ran between Grand Rapids and Lansing. This highway was replaced in segments through the 1920s and 1930s by realignments or extensions of other highways in the area. The second was part of Schaefer Highway in the Detroit area from 1939 until the end of the 1950s. The current highway was commissioned when the M-39 designation was moved to Southfield Road from Schaefer Highway. During the 1960s, it was converted into a freeway in stages. Afterwards, it was extended to end at M-85 (Fort Street) before a change in the 1980s gave the trunkline its present termini.

Route description

M-39 begins at Lafayette Boulevard a block east of its junction with I-75 in Lincoln Park. From there the road is a six-lane boulevard through residential areas as it runs west-northwesterly to pass under I-75. In Allen Park, the highway continues through residential and commercial areas.^[4][5] Southfield Road crosses lines of the Norfolk Southern Railway and Conrail Shared Assets Operations^[6] near the location where the highway turns to the northeast and transitions into a six-lane limited-access freeway. Immediately after this transition, the Southfield Freeway, as M-39 is now called, has an interchange with I-94. There is a second, adjacent interchange that connects to Van Born Road, and the freeway winds its way northeasterly through Dearborn. The freeway is bordered by service drives that carry one-way traffic and bear the Southfield Road name on either side. M-39 meets Outer Drive near the campus of the University of Michigan–Dearborn. The adjoining properties are residential to the west and commercial to the east. Near Greenfield Village, the freeway curves to the northwest around the Ford Proving Grounds before turning to the north, a direction it will maintain until the end of its run. The freeway crosses the River Rouge and meets US Highway 12 (Michigan Avenue) next to the Fairlane Town Center and Ford Motor Company's world headquarters in Dearborn.^[4][5]

M-39 bridge over the River Rouge in Dearborn

North of the interchange for M-153, (Ford Road), M-39 crosses into Detroit. From there the road continues through the densely populated areas of the west side of the city.^[4][5] Next to the Chicago Road overpass, the freeway runs under a CSX Transportation rail line.^[6] The trunkline continues traveling to the north through a series of interchanges. The first is a partial interchange for Plymouth Road; northbound traffic exiting here is directed to use the service drive northbound to access Schoolcraft Road, and traffic can enter M-39 southbound. Next is the stack interchange with I-96 (Jeffries Freeway) with access to both the local and express lanes of that freeway. The last of the series is another partial interchange with Schoolcraft Road. As a counterpart to the Plymouth Road interchange, this one provides access from southbound M-39 to the cross street with a signed connection along the southbound service drive to Plymouth Road and an entry point for northbound traffic. Continuing north, M-39 comes to an interchange with M-5 (Grand River Avenue) which also connects to Fenkell Avenue,^[4][5] the 5 Mile Road equivalent on Detroit's mile road system.^[7]

There are three more interchanges along M-39 in Detroit as the freeway continues through the residential upper west side. Near the Wayne Community College District, the freeway meets McNichols Road (6 Mile). There is another interchange approximately one mile (1.6 km) north at 7 Mile Road as well. The road then crosses the border between Wayne and Oakland counties to enter Southfield at the interchange with M-102 (8 Mile Road). The Southfield Freeway, and M-39, terminates at an interchange with M-10 (John C. Lodge Freeway) near 9 Mile Road. Southfield Road continues northward from the end of the freeway under local maintenance.^[4][5]

M-39 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (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, 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-39 were the 159,400 vehicles daily between Schoolcraft Road and Grand River Avenue in Detroit; the lowest counts were the 20,400 vehicles per day between the I-94 and Van Born Road interchanges.^[8] All of M-39, and Southfield Road on either end that is not under state maintenance, has been listed on the National Highway System,^[9] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.^[10]

History

Previous designations

Two previous highways bore the M-39 designation. When the state highway system was first signed in 1919,^[11] the number was assigned to a highway that ran between Grand Rapids and Lansing.^[12] The westernmost end in Kent County near Alto was replaced by a realigned M-16.^[13][14] Within the next few years, the western end was scaled back further to the Woodbury area when M-50 was extended,^[15] with the remainder replaced by an extended M-43 around 1938.^[16][17]

The next trunkline to be designated M-39 was Schaefer Highway in 1939, running north–south from US 25 (Dix Avenue) in Melvindale to US 16 (Grand River Avenue) in western Detroit.^[18][19] Since M-39 was moved to Southfield Road in the end of the 1950s, Schaefer Highway has been a locally maintained road.^[2][3]

Current designation

M-39 was reassigned to Southfield Road, connecting I-94 with Northwestern Highway in 1958-59.^[2][3] By 1961, the freeway was marked as under construction on maps.^[20] The first section opened in December 1961 was 2.7 miles (4.3 km) from Ford Road north to Chicago Road. The remainder of the freeway between I-94 and the Lodge Freeway and 9 Mile Road was opened by the middle of 1964 at a total cost of $40 million.^[21] The highway designation was extended southeasterly along Southfield Road to the new I-75 freeway and a terminus at M-85 (Fort Street) in 1966.^[22][23] In 1987, the M-39 designation was truncated slightly so that the trunkline no longer officially connects to M-85.^[24][25]

Exit list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Wayne	Lincoln Park	0.000	0.000		Lafayette Boulevard Southfield Road south	Roadway continues southeast as Southfield Road
		0.172– 0.186	0.277– 0.299		I-75 – Detroit, Toledo	Exit 41 on I-75
	Allen Park	2.169	3.491	Southern end of freeway
		2.423– 2.444	3.899– 3.933	1	I-94 – Detroit, Chicago	Exit 204 on I-94
	Dearborn Heights	2.593– 2.600	4.173– 4.184	2	Van Born Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; northbound exit ramp attached to exit 1; southbound exit and northbound entrance are at exit 3
	Dearborn	3.254– 3.269	5.237– 5.261	3	Outer Drive	Signed as Outer Drive and Van Born Road southbound
		4.258	6.853	4	Oakwood Boulevard
		4.901	7.887	5	Rotunda Drive	Additional northbound entrance at exit 6
		5.885– 5.904	9.471– 9.502	6	US 12 (Michigan Avenue)	Access to U of M-Dearborn, Henry Ford CC, and Fairlane Town Center; northbound access to Hubbard Drive
		7.141– 7.152	11.492– 11.510	7	M-153 (Ford Road)	Access to Fairlane Town Center; southbound access to Hubbard Drive
	Detroit	7.138	11.487	8	Warren Avenue
		9.137	14.705	9	Joy Road
		10.131	16.304	10	Plymouth Road, Schoolcraft Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; connection to Schoolcraft Avenue by way of the service drive
		10.556– 10.629	16.988– 17.106	11A	I-96 – Lansing, Downtown Detroit	Exit 183 on I-96
		11.130	17.912	11B	Schoolcraft Avenue, Plymouth Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; connection to Plymouth Road by way of the service drive
		12.094	19.463	12	M-5 (Grand River Avenue) / Fenkell Avenue
		13.122	21.118	13	McNichols Road
		14.744	23.728	14	7 Mile Road
Wayne–Oakland county line	Detroit–Southfield city line	15.721– 15.745	25.300– 25.339	15	M-102 (8 Mile Road)
Oakland	Southfield	16.631– 17.006	26.765– 27.369	16	M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to I-696 west – Lansing Southfield Road north	Directional access from M-39 to M-10 (northbound to northbound and southbound to southbound only); exit 14 on M-10; roadway continues north as Southfield Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

See also

• Metro Detroit portal
• Michigan Highways portal

References

1. Michigan Department of Transportation & Michigan Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships (2009). MDOT Physical Reference Finder Application (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
2. Michigan State Highway Department (1958). Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Detroit Metropolitan Area inset. §§ E6–F6. OCLC 12701120, 51856742. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1958)
3. Michigan State Highway Department (1960). Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Detroit Metropolitan Area inset. §§ E6–F6. OCLC 12701120, 81552576. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1960)
4. Michigan Department of Transportation (2011). Pure Michigan: State Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:158,400. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Detroit Area inset. §§ D9–G10. OCLC 42778335, 786008212.
5. Google (May 23, 2012). "Overview Map of M-39" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
6. Michigan Department of Transportation (January 2011). Michigan's Railroad System (PDF) (Map). Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
7. Gavrilovich, Peter & McGraw, Bill (2000). The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City. Detroit: Detroit Free Press. pp. 20–1. ISBN 978-0-937247-34-1.
8. Bureau of Transportation Planning (2008). "Traffic Monitoring Information System". Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
9. Michigan Department of Transportation (2005). National Highway System: Detroit Urbanized Area (PDF) (Map). Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
10. Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
11. "Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System". The Grand Rapids Press. September 20, 1919. p. 10. OCLC 9975013.
12. Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Lower Peninsula sheet. OCLC 15607244.
13. Michigan State Highway Department (May 1, 1925). Official Highway Condition Map (Map). [c. 1:823,680]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department.
14. Michigan State Highway Department (September 15, 1925). Official Highway Condition Map (Map). [c. 1:823,680]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department.
15. Michigan State Highway Department (May 1, 1929). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC 12701195, 79754957.
16. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (December 1, 1937). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Winter ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § L10. OCLC 12701143.
17. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (May 1, 1938). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Spring ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § L10. OCLC 12701143.
18. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (April 15, 1939). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Summer ed.). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Detroit & Vicinity inset. OCLC 12701143.
19. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (December 1, 1939). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Winter ed.). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Detroit & Vicinity inset. OCLC 12701143.
20. Michigan State Highway Department (1961). Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Detroit Metropolitan Area inset. §§ E6–F6. OCLC 12701120, 51857665. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1961)
21. Gavrilovich, Peter & McGraw, Bill (2000). The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City. Detroit: Detroit Free Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-937247-34-1.
22. Michigan Department of State Highways (1966). Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways. Detroit Metropolitan Area inset. § D2. OCLC 12701120.
23. Michigan Department of State Highways (1967). Michigan Water-Winter Wonderland: Official Highway Map (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways. Detroit Metropolitan Area inset. § D2. OCLC 12701120.
24. Michigan Department of Transportation (1987). Yes Michigan: Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:158,400. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Detroit and Vicinity inset. § G2. OCLC 12701177.
25. Michigan Department of Transportation (1988). Yes Michigan: Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:158,400. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Detroit and Vicinity inset. § G2. OCLC 42778335.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• M-39 at Michigan Highways
• M-39 at Michigan Highway Ends