Davison Avenue, Davison Freeway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by MDOT | ||||
Length | 5.491 mi[1] (8.837 km) | |||
History | 1942–1993 as a county freeway[2] 1993–present as M-8[2] | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | I-96 in Detroit | |||
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East end | Conant Street in Detroit | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Michigan | |||
Counties | Wayne | |||
Highway system | ||||
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M-8 is a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan lying within the cities of Detroit and Highland Park. Much of it is the Davison Freeway, the nation's first urban depressed freeway, which became a connector between the Lodge (M-10) and the Chrysler (Interstate 75, I-75) freeways.
Named for an English immigrant to the area, Davison Avenue was originally the only street connecting across Highland Park to Detroit. It was rebuilt by the city and Wayne County as a freeway during World War II. The roadway was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in 1993 and numbered as M-8. Subsequent changes by the state rebuilt the freeway and extended the M-8 designation to connect to the Jeffries Freeway (I-96).