Interstate 296 (I-296) is a part of the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
in the US state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. It is a north–south
state trunkline highway that runs for entirely within the
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
area. Its termini are
I-196 near downtown Grand Rapids 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 Bus ...
on the north side of Grand Rapids in
Walker
Walker or The Walker may refer to:
People
*Walker (given name)
*Walker (surname)
*Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer
Places
In the United States
*Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County
*Walker, Mono County, California
* ...
. For most of its length, the Interstate
runs concurrently with
U.S. Highway 131
US Highway 131 (US 131) is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 0.64 of its 269.96 miles (1.03 of 434.46 km) are within the state of Michigan. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state line as a st ...
(US 131), which continues as a freeway built to
Interstate Highway standards
Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway ...
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
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) has since eliminated all signage for I-296 and removed the designation from their official state map. The designation is therefore
unsigned
Unsigned can refer to:
* An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label
** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists
** Unsigned band web, online community
* Similarly, the ...
, but still listed on the Interstate Highway System route log maintained by the
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...
(FHWA).
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
Belknap Hill (also called Lookout Hill), is a prominent river bluff directly northeast of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The hill is a distinct topographical feature when viewed from the Western approach to the downtown area. Evening romancers ...
north of the
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is the presidential museum and burial place of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States (1974–1977), and his wife Betty Ford. It is located near the Pew Campus of Grand Valley State Universi ...
and the
DeVos Place Convention Center
DeVos Place Convention Center, erected on the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a multi-purpose convention center. It is named for Richard DeVos, who donated $20 million towards its construction.
The convention center contains a ...
. 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
The Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad is a railroad in western Michigan, United States. The line runs east–west through Grand Rapids, Michigan to Lowell. Its of trackage ends at the Saint Mary's Siding, where it meets the Coopersville and Ma ...
.
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 former
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 northwesterly, and US 131 curves northeasterly 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
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
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, collecting an on-ramp from M-37 and then merging with southbound US 131 north of Ann Street.
History
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
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
'', 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
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
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
(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
See also
*
Footnotes
References
External links
I-296at Michigan Highways
at Interstate Guide—Photos of termini and scan of 1970s Michigan map before the freeway designation was "hidden"
at kurumi.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:I296
96-2
96-2
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U.S. Route 131
Transportation in Kent County, Michigan
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