U.S. Route 10 - History

History

Originally, US 10 also passed through Montana, the Idaho Panhandle, and Washington, terminating in Seattle. The completion of I-90 and I-94 replaced US 10 along this route, although some sections of the old US 10 road still exist in such cities as Bismarck, Missoula, Spokane, and between Cle Elum and Ellensburg as State Route 10. The last section of Interstate 90 to be completed was between Coeur d'Alene and Wallace in the early 1990s. Much of this route was co-numbered as both I-90 and US 10 until the final completion of I-90 through Idaho. Some decommissioned sections of US 10 are designated Interstate 90 Business or Interstate 94 Business routes.

At the eastern end, US 10 originally went south from Midland, Michigan to Saginaw, Michigan on what is now highway M-47. It then joined up with US 23 in Saginaw, and continued south until it split from US 23 north of Flint, Michigan. It then continued south-east as the Dixie Highway to Pontiac, Michigan, where it became Woodward Avenue, now designated as M-1. From there, US 10 continued on an almost straight line to downtown Detroit, where it intersected with US 16, US 25, and US 12. It then took a two-block jog, and ended up at the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel to Canada.

In the 1970s, US-10 was rerouted off Woodward Avenue in the Detroit area and onto the John C. Lodge Freeway (formerly Business Spur 696, now M-10) and Telegraph Road. US-10 was truncated to Bay City, Michigan in 1987 at which point the Lodge Freeway was changed to M-10.

In 1925, US-10 was originally proposed to run from Detroit through Chicago, and northwesterly into Wisconsin on what later became US-12.