text: interstate 69 in michigan interstate 69 ( i - 69 ) is a part of the interstate highway system that will eventually run from the mexican border in texas to the canadian border at port huron , michigan . in michigan , it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state south of coldwater and passes the cities of lansing and flint in the lower peninsula . a north – south freeway from the indiana – michigan border to the lansing area , it changes direction to east – west after running concurrently with i - 96 . the freeway continues to port huron before terminating in the middle of the twin - span blue water bridge while running concurrently with i - 94 at the border . there are four related business loops for i - 69 in the state , connecting the freeway to adjacent cities . predecessors to i - 69 include the first m - 29 , us highway 27 ( us 27 ) , m - 78 and m - 21 . the freeway was not included on the original interstate highway system planning maps in the mid - 1950s , but it was added in 1958 along a shorter route . michigan built segments of freeway for the future interstate in the 1960s , and the state was granted additional interstate mileage in 1968 to extend i - 69 north and east to flint . later extensions in 1973 and 1987 resulted in the modern highway . the first freeway segment designated as i - 69 in michigan opened in 1967 , and the last was completed in 1992 , finishing michigan 's interstate system . us 27 previously ran concurrently with i - 69 from the indiana – michigan state line north to the lansing area , but this designation was removed in 2002 . route description the entirety of i - 69 is listed on the national highway system , which is a network of roadways important to the country 's economy , defense , and mobility . the freeway carries 91 , 100 vehicles on average each day between i - 475 and m - 54 in flint and 14 , 085 vehicles between m - 53 and capac road near the lapeer – st. clair county line , the highest and lowest traffic counts in 2012 , respectively . i - 69 carries the lake huron circle tour in the port huron area and the i - 69 recreational heritage route from the indiana state line north to the calhoun – eaton county line . northward to lansing i - 69 in michigan begins at the indiana state line southeast of kinderhook and just north of an interchange with the indiana toll road , which carries i - 80 and i - 90 . from there , i - 69 runs northward through a mixture of southern michigan farmland and woodland in branch county . a few miles north of the state line , the freeway passes coldwater lake state park and its namesake body of water ; north of the lake , there is a welcome center for the northbound lanes . i - 69 curves around the east side of coldwater , connecting to the city 's business loop on the south of town . immediately east of downtown , the freeway intersects the northern end of the business loop at an interchange that also features us 12 ( chicago road ) . farther north , the freeway turns to the northwest , crosses into calhoun county and then over the st. joseph river . i - 69 turns back northward and bypasses tekonsha to the town 's west , intersecting m - 60 in the process . curving around nottawa lake , i - 69 continues northward through southern calhoun county . it passes through an interchange that marks the southern terminus of m - 227 , a highway that connects northward into marshall . the freeway crosses the kalamazoo river and passes through an interchange with m - 96 west of downtown marshall . from that interchange northward , the bl i - 94 designation is overlaid on i - 69 ; the business loop ends at the cloverleaf interchange northwest of marshall that marks the first of i - 69 's two junctions with i - 94 in the state . north of i - 94 , i - 69 has one more interchange at n drive north before crossing into eaton county . in southern eaton county , the freeway parallels the battle creek river north of the junction with m - 78 . near olivet , i - 69 begins to turn in a northeasterly direction and curves around the north side of town . on the south side of charlotte , i - 69 turns northward , traversing an area to the east of downtown and crossing the former routing of us 27 , which is now part of the business loop for the city . farther north , the freeway has a junction with m - 50 , a bridge over the battle creek river , and an interchange with the northern end of the business loop next to fitch h. beach airport . north of the airport , i - 69 turns northeasterly again and parallels lansing road , the former route of us 27 / m - 78 . the freeway meets the southern end of m - 100 near potterville and continues into the lansing – east lansing metropolitan area . southwest of the state 's capital city , i - 69 crosses over lansing road near lansing delta township assembly , a factory for general motors ; northeast of the complex , i - 69 merges into i - 96 . the combined i - 96 / i - 69 runs northward through the suburban edges of the lansing area , intersecting the western ends of i - 496 and the bl i - 69 for lansing . the freeway enters clinton county , and just north of a crossing of the grand river , i - 69 turns eastward to separate from i - 96 . as a part of the larger interchange with i - 96 , i - 69 crosses bl i - 96 ( grand river avenue ) without any connections . eastward to port huron after leaving the i - 96 concurrency , i - 69 changes cardinal orientation and is signed as east – west from that point on . the freeway continues parallel to the looking glass river through suburban areas north of capital region international airport . north of east lansing , i - 69 meets us 127 at a cloverleaf interchange . east of that junction , i - 69 turns southeasterly passing the hawk hollow golf course and park lake on the way to meet the eastern end of bl i - 69 just north of lake lansing . i - 69 then turns northeasterly parallel to lansing road ( old m - 78 ) to enter shiawassee county . the freeway continues through central michigan farmlands , jogging north of perry and bancroft . at durand , i - 69 meets the southeastern end of m - 71 on the northwest side of town . the freeway turns sharply to the northeast before turning due east near lennon . the interchange with m - 13 south of lennon marks the shiawassee – genesee county line . continuing eastward , i - 69 parallels miller road to the north as far as the city of swartz creek ; east of town , the two roadways cross . i - 69 parallels a line of the canadian national railway as it enters the flint metro area . the freeway intersects bristol road near the bishop international airport and then crosses i - 75 / us 23 southwest of downtown flint . i - 69 , the railroad and the swartz creek all parallel into downtown flint where the freeway intersects i - 475 and m - 54 ( dort highway ) before exiting the east side of the city . i - 69 runs eastward out of flint parallel to the railroad . at davison , it intersects m - 15 before crossing into lapeer county . in this area , the freeway traverses farmlands in the southern part of the region called the thumb . it jogs to the north around lake , which is southwest of lapeer . the freeway continues through farmland to imlay city , where it meets m - 53 before crossing into western st. clair county . southwest of capac , there is a temporary welcome center at the rest area along the westbound lanes . i - 69 continues eastward through an interchange with m - 19 at emmett . near wadhams , i - 69 curves around to the north to follow part of the black river . on the east side of the community , the freeway turns back to the southeast as it enters the western edge of the port huron suburbs . i - 69 turns again to run due eastward to intersect i - 94 . the two freeways merge in an interchange that also has connections to bl i - 69 . past the interchange , the freeway curves to the north and back around to the east to cross the black river . on the eastern bank , i - 94 / i - 69 travels through one more interchange , this one for m - 25 and bl i - 69 / bl i - 94 . past the interchange , the freeway crosses through the toll and customs plazas for the twin - span blue water bridge . the i - 69 designation officially ends at the international boundary in the middle of the st. clair river where it connects with highway 402 . history predecessor highways the first major overland transportation corridors in the future state of michigan were the indian trails . none of these followed the path of the modern i - 69 however . the state trunkline highway system was created on may 13 , 1913 , by an act of the michigan legislature ; at the time , none of the system 's divisions corresponded to the modern i - 69 either . in 1919 , the michigan state highway department ( mshd ) was required to signpost the highway system for the first time , and the state become the second after wisconsin to do so . at the time , two different highways followed sections of the modern i - 69 corridor . the original m - 29 ran from the indiana state line north to charlotte and turned northeasterly to lansing . the second highway was m - 21 from flint east to goodells , a community west of port huron ; the highway was extended to port huron by 1924 . on november 11 , 1926 , the united states numbered highway system was approved by the american association of state highway officials ( aasho ) , and the new us 27 replaced m - 29 from the state line northward to lansing . by the end of the next year , m - 78 was extended from charlotte north and east of lansing to a junction with m - 47 near pittsburg , north of the modern i - 69 . the section of m - 78 north of lansing was changed in 1929 ; the segment from dewitt to pittsburg was redesignated m - 104 , and m - 78 was rerouted along a more southerly path through east lansing to haslett . by 1936 , m - 78 was extended from haslett all the way into flint to end at m - 21 . the first span of the blue water bridge opened between port huron and point edward , ontario , in 1938 . interstate highway era the first planning maps from 1947 for what later became the interstate highway system did not include a highway along i - 69 's route ; instead a highway further west connecting south bend , indiana , with kalamazoo was included . this alternative highway was maintained on the 1955 plan for the " national system of interstate and defense highways " , and numbered i - 67 in august 1957 . by june 1958 , this freeway had been shifted further east and renumbered i - 69 , connecting indianapolis , indiana , with marshall ; no connections north and east to lansing , flint or port huron were planned as part of the interstate highway system . around the same time , a section of m - 146 near port huron was converted into an approach freeway for the blue water bridge . by the middle of 1960 , the first section of freeway along m - 78 was opened in the lennon area . the next year , the freeway had been extended as far southwest as durand from the end at lennon . also in 1961 , the mshd had proposed that the section of us 27 south of lansing be built as an electronic highway under a bid through general motors ; the testing for such a roadway was ultimately done at ohio state university instead . by the start of 1962 , m - 78 was a freeway from perry at the junction with m - 47 all the way to swartz creek near flint . on december 12 , 1962 , i - 96 was completed around the lansing area , and m - 78 was rerouted to follow it . a year later , i - 496 was partially opened through the lansing area , and m - 78 was routed to follow it as well ; the former route through downtown was redesignated business m - 78 ( bus . m - 78 ) . around the same time , i - 94 was extended along the blue water bridge approach freeway . the first freeway segment of m - 21 on the east end was built from wadhams to port huron in 1966 . the next year , m - 78 's freeway was extended eastward to i - 75 / us 10 / us 23 in flint . on october 11 , 1967 , the first segment of i - 69 / us 27 was scheduled to open between the indiana state line and tekonsha . by the end of the year , the freeway extended north to i - 94 northwest of marshall . the mshd requested additional interstate highway mileage in 1968 under the federal - aid highway act of 1968 including an extension of i - 69 from marshall to port huron ; this extension was approved as far as i - 75 / us 23 in flint on december 13 , 1968 . a discontinuous section of m - 78 freeway east of flint was completed in 1969 . the same year , i - 475 was named the david dunbar buick freeway , after the founder of buick motor company in flint ; the same legislation , house concurrent resolution 22 of 1969 named the m - 78 freeway through flint for louis chevrolet . in 1970 , the i - 496 freeway was completed and the bus . m - 78 designation was removed through lansing . a freeway segment between flint and lapeer opened in 1971 . m - 21 was routed down m - 13 to the new freeway where it joined the m - 78 designation from m - 13 east . the section of m - 21 formerly between m - 13 and bus . m - 54 was redesignated m - 56 . the m - 78 designation was replaced by i - 69 in 1973 after a temporary i - 69 ( temp . i - 69 ) designation was extended northward from charlotte through lansing to perry . on september 4 of that year , i - 69 's designation was officially extended by congress to end at i - 475 on the east side of flint ; this extension , and all subsequent ones , was of non - chargeable mileage , or segments not financed through the interstate highway fund . in 1980 , a flint - area politician wanted to dedicate a highway after the united auto workers ( uaw ) . as a result , the david dunbar buick freeway name was moved off i - 475 and applied to i - 69 in flint . the american association of state highway and transportation officials ( aashto ) approved the extension of the i - 69 designation eastward in 1983 so that it would terminate at the international boundary at port huron ; this approval was contingent on construction of the roadway to interstate highway standards and other appropriate approvals at the federal government level . the remaining segment of freeway connecting lapeer with wadhams opened in 1984 as i - 69 and several additional changes were made to the highway system at the same time . m - 21 was shortened to flint and replaced m - 56 through the city . the former route of m - 21 in port huron became bl i - 69 , and the remainder of that highway was turned back to local control . the i - 69 designation was officially extended once more under congressional legislation on february 10 , 1987 ; this last extension designated i - 69 all the way to i - 94 in port huron to reflect the 1984 openings . another segment of freeway opened in 1987 in clinton county between us 127 near dewitt and temp . i - 69 near bath . this section was connected to the existing freeway at perry in 1991 . the final segment of i - 69 to be completed was located southwest of lansing . it opened on october 17 , 1992 , when the ribbon was cut by governor john engler . this segment marked the last in the state to complete michigan 's portion of the interstate highway system . at the time it was completed , i - 69 was concurrent with us 27 from the state line north to the dewitt area ( exit 87 ) and then concurrent with us 127 to exit 89 before running alone to port huron . since completion a second span of the blue water bridge between port huron and point edward opened in july 1997 . the st. johns bypass on us 27 opened on august 31 , 1998 ; us 27 was extended along i - 69 about two miles ( 3 . 2 km ) to the connect to the bypass , and us 127 was simultaneously removed from i - 69 . the next year , mdot petitioned aashto to decommission the us 27 designation in the state ; the change was approved on april 16 , 1999 . the state waited until 2002 to make the change . on july 23 , 2001 , the michigan legislature declared that i - 69 from exit 105 in shiawassee county east to exit 135 in genesee county would be named the pearl harbor memorial highway . in october 2001 , the legislature consolidated the various legislation that created memorial highway designations in the state . public act 142 of 2001 extended the merged chevrolet – buick freeway name to all of i - 69 in genesee county , and restored the david dunbar buick freeway name to i - 475 . the i - 69 recreational heritage route ( now a pure michigan byway ) was created on october 8 , 2004 , to follow the freeway in branch and calhoun counties . the branch county segment was also dedicated as the purple heart trail on july 17 , 2006 . in 2011 , construction began to widen i - 94 / i - 69 approaching the blue water bridge , a project completed in 2012 . the widening project added dedicated lanes for local traffic and for blue water bridge traffic with a new permanent welcome center expected to open in 2015 , replacing the temporary one near capac . the lane configuration changes have confused drivers in the area , especially those with outdated gps devices , a problem first noted as the department was preparing to reopen the freeway in october 2012 . as a result , mdot installed updated signs complete with american and canadian flags to help prevent drivers from heading to canada by mistake . in late 2013 , construction began to reconstruct and reconfigure the i - 94 / i - 69 interchange near port huron . the project will improve 3 . 7 miles ( 6 . 0 km ) of freeway , replace several bridges and ramps and cost $ 76 million . in june 2014 , mdot closed the ramps from i - 69 eastbound to bl i - 69 through the interchange until later in the year . the project is slated to be completed in 2015 . exit list business loops in michigan , i - 69 currently has four business loops . these highways , each designated business loop i - 69 ( bl i - 69 ) , provide access from the main freeway through the downtown districts of adjacent cities . they follow former routings used by i - 69 's predecessor highways ( us 27 , m - 78 and m - 21 ) as well connecting roads . the cities served by these loops are : coldwater , charlotte , lansing , and port huron .