M-1 (Michigan Highway)

M-1 (Michigan Highway)

M-1, commonly known as Woodward Avenue, is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan. The highway, called "Detroit's Main Street", runs from Detroit northwesterly to Pontiac. The street is one of the five principal avenues of Detroit, which also include Michigan, Grand River, Gratiot and Jefferson avenues. These streets were platted in 1805 by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, namesake to Woodward Avenue. The U.S. Department of Transportation has listed the highway as the Automotive Heritage Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program. It has also been designated a Michigan Heritage Route by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). The roadway was also included in the MotorCities National Heritage Area designated by the U.S. Congress in 1998.

The trunkline is the dividing line between Detroit's East and West sides, providing access to some of the city's major freeways like Interstate 94 (I-94, Edsel Ford Freeway) and M-8 (Davison Freeway). Woodward Avenue exits Detroit at M-102 (8 Mile Road) and runs through the city's northern suburbs in Oakland County on its way to Pontiac. In between, Woodward Avenue passes through several historic districts in Detroit and provides access to many businesses in the area. The name Woodward Avenue has become synonymous with Detroit, cruising culture and the automotive industry.

Woodward Avenue was created after the Detroit Fire in 1805. It followed the route of the Saginaw Trail, an Indian trail that linked Detroit with Pontiac, Flint, and Saginaw. With the Mackinaw Trail, the Saginaw also connected north to the Straits of Mackinac at the tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In the age of the auto trails, Woodward Avenue was also part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway that connected Portland, Maine, with Portland, Oregon through Ontario in Canada. It was also a part of the Dixie Highway that connected Michigan with Florida. Woodward Avenue was the location of the first mile (1.6 km) of concrete roadway in the country. When Michigan created the State Trunkline Highway System in 1913, the roadway was included, becoming part of M-10 in 1919. Later, it was part of US Highway 10 (US 10) after the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System. Since 1970, it has borne the M-1 designation. The roadway carried streetcar lines from the 1860s until the 1950s; a new light rail line may be added in the future if a proposed construction project moves forward.