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Old Posted Dec 26, 2006, 7:48 PM
gsgeorge gsgeorge is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Detroit / Ann Arbor - MICHIGAN
Posts: 41
The Urban Freeways - A Photo History (Old Detroit images)

The freeway in some form or another has been arond since the late 1920s. It was born in Italy and perfected in Germany, and put to heavy use on America's coasts in the 1940s. But the urban freeway, one that is constructed within fully-developed city, was a magnificent and complicated addition to the pulsing fabric of the modern metropolis. It was born in Detroit, the world's first sprawl city, sixty-five years ago.

This is a photo history of two of the city's earliest and most iconic freeways. Detroit's oldest is the Davison Freeway, built in 1942. Henry Ford pushed for its construction to help his workers quickly reach the Ford assembly factory at Highland Park. At the time, it was short (only two miles long) and was built outside of the central core of the city, but in the years following it would be flanked by two larger and more ambitious freeways. The Davison no longer looks like it does in these photos; in 1968 it was expanded and in 1993 it was refurbished and widened.

Davison Ave. before construction - July 1941


Many homes and businesses were demolished. In this photo, a "Street Widening Sale" is advertised. 1941.


Davison at Third, 1941.



Same location, one year later.


Open for traffic, November 24, 1942.




The John C. Lodge Expressway was Detroit's next big project. Workers began construction in 1949 and it was not completed until the 1960s.

This aerial image of the New Center neighborhood shows how the Lodge cut a ribbon of concrete into the land and divided communities. We all know what happened from here...


Street level construction, 1949.


A few months after opening in 1950. The beautiful train in this photo would soon become obsolete in the Motor City.


1950 traffic! (negative flipped)


1955. Traffic has come to a standstill at rush hour.


1958. The Lodge with the Fisher Building in the background. (negative flipped)


1955. The Lodge at night.


December 2006.



Obviously there's a lot more to be said about these images, but I'll stop short of preachy commentary. I think the images speak for themselves. Feel free to post more urban freeway photos, preferably from the early days of urban freeway construction. I would love to see urban freeways from your city too! This thread is not limited to the city of Detroit.


Image credits:
Wayne State University Digital Image Library, The Virtual Motor City
Bentley Historical Library Image Bank, University of Michigan
Last photo by me.
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