^Looking west from Exit 4 at Fruitport, July 2023.
Interstate 96 is a freeway across the Lower Peninsula, running from Muskegon east-southeasterly to Detroit. The purpose of Interstate 96 is to connect Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon. It never leaves the state of Michigan. The eastern end is at Interstate 75, just west of downtown Detroit. From there, Interstate 96 heads northwest and west to a 4-way junction where it joins Interstate 275 north; continuing west is the Michigan Highway 14 freeway with a seamless transition to Interstate 94 at Ann Arbor. Interstate 96 follows Interstate 275 north for a while before splitting west-northwesterly to head away from Metro Detroit. It wraps around the southern and western sides of Lansing, but Interstate 496 is provided as an alternate directly through the city. From the Lansing area, Interstate 96 continues west-northwest to secure its distinction as the highway connecting Michigan's largest city to the state's second-largest city, Grand Rapids. Beyond Grand Rapids is another thirty miles of lightly-trafficked freeway, linking Grand Rapids to Muskegon. The western end of Interstate 96 is at US Route 31 in Muskegon.
My photo of a cutout shield for Interstate 96 comes from the corner of Cedar Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on the south side of Lansing, Michigan. In recent years, the adoption of unisigns for Michigan's Interstate junctions has made cutout shields difficult to find across the state. Usually, I'm relegated to finding these cutout shields on "To" guide markers, distant from the Interstate itself. The cutout shield in this photo is no exception! This guide assembly faces north on Cedar Street, directing southbound travelers north onto Pennsylvania Avenue, where they will soon find a right turn onto a trumpet spur joining Interstate 96. That trumpet spur is an interchange labeled "exit 104" along Interstate 96. This photo was taken in August 2020, passing through Lansing on the way home from Traverse City.
Michigan Interstate guides will come with complete exit lists and a photo for every exit, at some point in the future when I've driven the full lengths of all of them. This page showing the cutout shield will stay here for now, until that happens.
Michigan Interstate guides will come with complete exit lists and a photo for every exit, at some point in the future when I've driven the full lengths of all of them. This page showing the cutout shield will stay here for now, until that happens.
The westernmost interchange along Interstate 96 is with US Route 31, which is a freeway in this area around Muskegon. Exit 1A leads to US Route 31 south toward Grand Haven:
Exit 1B leads to US Route 31 north toward Ludington:
Exit 4 leads to Airline Road, a way to Fruitport:
Exit 5 leads to Fruitport Road, but access is only provided to/from the east along Interstate 96...
Exit 9 leads to the north end of Michigan 231 and the eastern end of Michigan 104, which runs west to Spring Lake:
Exit 10 leads to Nunica by way of County Highway B31:
Exit 16 is for County Highway B35, signed as the way to Coopersville and Eastmanville:
Exit 19 brings people to Lamont and Coopersville:
Exit 24 is a ramp to the northwestern terminus of Michigan 11, for those going to/from the west on Interstate 96. Michigan 11 is signed as a connection to Walker and Grandville...
Exit 25 is a partial interchange to/from the east along Interstate 96, leading to 8th Avenue and 4 Mile Road. Exit 25 and Exit 24 basically lead to the same point, so they virtually form a complete interchange together...
Exit 26 is a full interchange with Fruit Ridge Avenue...
Exit 28 provides complete access to Walker Road...
Exit 30A leads to Alpine Avenue southbound in Grand Rapids. This is the first half of a two-part interchange with Alpine Avenue, where M-37 continues north...
Exit 30B leads to Michigan 37 northbound, where it starts to follow Alpine Avenue in that direction. This ramp as signed as a gateway to Newaygo...
Exit 31A leads to US Route 131 south, toward downtown Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo...
Exit 31B leads to US Route 131 north, toward Big Rapids and Cadillac...
Exit 33 leads to an alternate alignment for Michigan 44 dubbed "Connector M-44". It runs along Plainfield Avenue:
Exit 36 leads to Leonard Street in Grand Rapids:
Exit 37 is the ramp giving rise to Interstate 196, but access isn't provided to/from the west on Interstate 96...
Exit 38 is a full interchange with the East Beltline in Grand Rapids. The East Beltline carries Michigan 44 north of this interchange, and it carries Michigan 37 south away from Interstate 96:
Exit 39 connects travelers coming to/from the west to Michigan Highway 21. For those coming to/from the east along Interstate 96, the East Beltline exit is signed as the way to Michigan 21, as shown in the photo above...
Exit 40 is a diverging diamond interchange for Cascade Road...
Exit 43A leads to Michigan 11 west, which is known as 28th Street...
Exit 43B is the second half of the interchange with 28th Street. As Michigan 11 ends here coming from the west, this ramp to 28th Street eastbound doesn't involve that state highway designation:
Exit 44 is a full interchange with 36th Street:
Exit 46 links to the Michigan 6 freeway, signed as a way to Holland as it flanks Grand Rapids to the south:
Exit 52 is an exit for Lowell, Michigan, but it also leads to the northwestern end of Michigan Route 50, which leads to Charlotte:
Exit 59 is used for reaching Saranac and Clarksville:
Exit 64 is the exit for Lake Odessa, but travelers coming from the east are informed that the exit is used for reaching Saranac:
Exit 67 provides access to Michigan 66, a route leading to Ionia and Battle Creek:
Exit 73 is one of many exits to Grand River Avenue, a former alignment of US Route 16. This one provides access to Portland Road as well:
Exit 76 connects with Kent Street:
Exit 77 in Portland is another exit to Grand River Avenue:
Exit 84 leads to Eagle and Westphalia:
Exit 86 forms the northern end of Michigan Route 100, a route connecting to Grand Ledge; the surface road continues north of here as Wright Road:
Exit 89 leads to Interstate 69's northeastern progression toward Flint, as Interstate 69 and Interstate 96 join together toward the south, around the western side of Lansing:
Exit 90 is the western end of the Business Loop I-96 for Lansing, along Grand River Avenue:
Exit 91 is the ramp to Interstate 69 northeastward toward Flint, for those coming from the south and east:
More photos coming soon