M-14 - Ann Arbor - LocalWiki

View Edit

M-14 is the divided, limited-access highway running west to east past the northern edge of Ann Arbor. Major towns to the east are Plymouth, Livonia, and Detroit; towns of interest to the west via I-94 include Chelsea, Jackson, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor&St. Joseph, Gary IN, and Chicago.

Real time traffic

Real time traffic reports from traffic.com:

MDOT plans to introduce traffic cameras on parts of M-14 in 2012. [1]

History

After the US-12 bypass (now I-94) was built south of town in 1956, M-14 was created on its former route through town: Jackson Road (now BL-94), Main Street (now BR-23), and Plymouth Road to Detroit. Eight years later, the first part of the northern bypass was built, from Main Street (now exit 3) to Ford Road (now exit 10); M-14 then continued on Ford Road (now M-153) to Plymouth Road, and then into Detroit. In 1965, the section from I-94 to Main was completed, but the rest of the freeway wasn't built until the routing of I-96 in Detroit was decided on in 1977, and didn't open until late in 1979.

Sections of M-14 along the northern edge of Ann Arbor were reconstructed in the late 1990s.

Construction

In April 2006 there was construction on M-14 from its terminus at I-275 and I-96 in Livonia to the Washtenaw County border. Some M-14 alternative routes will get you around the construction delays or give you a chance to take mile roads to explore places you wouldn't otherwise see.

M-14 exits in

Exit 1: I-94
- Access only from eastbound 94 to eastbound 14 and from westbound 14 to westbound 94.
Exit 2: Miller Road and North Maple Road
- Due to narrow lanes and a sharpish curve in the road, the speed limit on the Miller--Main section is 65 mph, though most Michigan highways are now 70 mph.
Exit 3: North Main Street/Business Route US-23
- from westbound 14 to southbound Main only and from northbound Main to eastbound 14 only. There is no simple access from Main to westbound 14, nor from eastbound 14 to Main, though in both cases drivers may use the Barton Drive exit, a thousand feet north, to turn around.
Exit 4: Barton Drive and Whitmore Lake Road
- Built as a local access ramp when the Huron River bridge was constructed in 1957, the exit from eastbound 14 to Barton Drive is one of the oldest in the state, and predates the federal expressway system --- exiting drivers must go from 65 mph freeway traffic (increased from a 55mph limit in 2010), weave among motorists entering from 45 mph Main Street, and slow to a 15 mph hairpin exit ramp, in about 2,000 feet. The entrance ramp from Barton to eastbound 14 is also antique --- up a hill, stop sign at the top of the ramp, and quickly merge with traffic: there's only 200' of acceleration lane. In the late 90s, as part of the Northeast Area Plan, the city received a $750,000 federal grant to study what to do with this ramp. The study concluded that the ramp should be closed, with no replacement; but Ann Arbor City Council chose to accept the report and reject that specific recommendation.
Exit 5: northbound US-23, Brighton/Flint
Exit 8: southbound US-23, Toledo
Exit 10: M-153/Ford Road, Plymouth/Canton Township
- Terminus of the original 1964 freeway. The rest was built in the 1970s and opened to traffic in 1979.
Exit 15: Gotfredson Road, Plymouth
- Last exit in Washtenaw County. The last seven miles of the highway are in Wayne County; it ends at the junction of I-275 and I-96 in Livonia.