This Road Is Michigan’s Oldest Road

Michigan is a big state. We have tons of roads, highways and interstates. What is Michigan's oldest road?

Before we discover what Michigan's oldest road is, here's some fun info about Michigan roads from the Michigan Department of Transportation:

The first Michigan road map, with only three roads on it, was published by the United States Congress in 1826.

Michigan's first four-lane divided expressway, the Detroit Industrial Expressway, ran between Detroit and Willow Run in 1941.

The shortest state trunkline road is M-212 in Cheboygan County. It is only .7 mile long.

The longest highway in Michigan is I-75, which runs 395 miles from the Ohio border to the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie.

Michigan has a total of 120,256 miles of paved roadway (9,669 route miles of state trunkline, 89,444 route miles of county roads, and 21,198 route miles of city and village streets).

There is enough pavement in Michigan roadways to build a one-lane road from the Earth to the moon.

More than 95.1 billion miles are driven on Michigan roadways every year.

M-185 on Mackinac Island is the only state highway in the nation where motor vehicles are banned.

The shortest freeway in Michigan is I-375 in Detroit. It is only 1.1 miles long.

Eight Michigan highways began as Native American trails, US-2 (from Sault Ste. Marie to Green Bay); I-75 (from Detroit to Saginaw); I-94 (from Detroit to St. Joseph; I-96 (from Detroit to Grand Rapids); I-94 (from Detroit to Port Huron); US-41 (from L'Anse to Marquette); and US-12 (from Ypsilanti to Chicago).

We have a unique road system with a lot of history in Michigan.

We can all agree that the roads are terrible and need work. The oldest road in Michigan can probably use some work too. The Michigan Department of Transportation says that the oldest road in Michigan is:

The first surveyed road in Michigan was Pontiac Road (now called M-1 or Woodward Avenue) connecting Detroit and Pontiac in 1819.

Not only does Detroit have a rich history but it is also home to the oldest road in Michigan.