Business Routes of Interstate 96 - Detroit

Grand River Avenue is one of the principal pre-Interstate roads in the state of Michigan. The modern road cuts across the Lower Peninsula in a southeast-to-northwest fashion from Detroit to Grand Rapids. The portion of Grand River Avenue in Detroit between I-96 and the intersection with Cass Avenue and Middle Street in downtown Detroit is an unsigned state trunkline, sometimes referred to as OLD BS I-96.

In Detroit, Grand River is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Michigan, Gratiot, and Jefferson) planned by Judge Augustus Woodward in 1805 that extend from downtown Detroit in differing directions. Grand River Avenue extends northwesterly from the city's downtown.

In 1850, the Michigan State Legislature established the Lansing and Howell Plank Road Company, which set about converting various Indian trails into the Lansing-Howell Plank Road, a task the company completed by 1853. At Howell the road connected with the Detroit-Howell Plank Road, establishing the first improved connection direct from the state capital to Michigan's largest metropolis. The Lansing-Detroit Plank Road was a toll road until the 1880s. It eventually evolved into the modern Grand River Avenue.

With the creation of the U.S. Highway System, Grand River became part of US 16. This lasted until the creation of the Interstate Highway System, when Grand River was paralleled by I-96, and the US 16 designation was removed.

When US 16 was deleted in 1962, Grand River Avenue was designated as "BS I-96" (Business Spur I-96). Upon completion of the I-96/Jeffries Freeway in Detroit in 1977, portions were re-designated as M-102 and M-5 (later the extension of M-102 became part of M-5). From the I-96/Jeffries Freeway southeast into downtown Detroit, Grand River Avenue remained under state control as an unsigned state trunkline, sometimes referred to as "OLD BS I-96". In 2004, the state transferred several blocks at the eastern end of Grand River Avenue to the City of Detroit. State trunkline control now ends at the corner of Grand River Avenue, Middle Street, and Cass Avenue.