M-59 (Michigan Highway) - Route Description

Route Description

M-59 starts at I-96 in Howell Township as Highland Road near a large outlet mall. Highland Road carries M-59 concurrently with the westernmost section of Business Loop I-96 (BL I-96). Highland Road widens out into a boulevard south of the county airport before the roadway reaches Grand River Avenue. At this intersection, BL I-96 departs to the southwest. This section of Howell is mostly residential with tree-lined streets. The boulevard section ends near Thompson Lake and M-59 continues east through rural Livingston County as a two-lane highway crossing forested and residential areas. Halfway across Hartland Township, M-59 meets the US Highway 23 (US 23) freeway near the Hartland Plaza Shopping Center, and Highland Road widens out to a boulevard divided highway again. The route passes several small lakes and continues east into Oakland County. Running through the Highland State Recreational Area, M-59 swings to the north through rural Oakland County's lake country which comprises several lakes in dense forest lands and residential subdivisions that form the northern edge of the Metropolitan Detroit area. There is a brief gap in the Highland SRA where M-59 narrows back to two-lane road. Near Brendel Lake and the Alpine Valley Ski Area, Highland Road narrows back to two lanes for the final time. The narrowed roadway continues east, crossing the southern edge of Pontiac Lake in the state recreational area of the same name.

The next major landmark along M-59 is the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township. Highland Road begins to curve back to the south through denser suburbs as it approaches the outskirts of Pontiac. The Highland Road name gives way to Huron Street near Sylvan Lake, and M-59 crosses Telegraph Road, which carries US 24 and marks the boundary with Pontiac. Huron Street continues east into downtown Pontiac where it crosses the northern end of Woodward Avenue, which is part of the two business loops that encircle the central business district. East of downtown Pontiac, M-59 widens out into a full freeway. This freeway provides access to the south side of the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions. To the east of the stadium in Auburn Hills is the cloverleaf interchange with I-75 and the North American corporate headquarters of car maker Chrysler. Continuing east through the northern Detroit suburbs, the M-59 freeway curves back to the south and crosses into Macomb County at the Dequindre Road interchange. Trucks carrying explosive or flammable cargo are required to exit the M-59 freeway and use the parallel service drive through the Mound Road-Merrill Road interchange just west of Utica.

The M-59 freeway crosses the border between Sterling Heights and Shelby Township and ends at Van Dyke Avenue in Utica, where M-59 becomes a boulevard called Hall Road. The highway crosses the Clinton River and the southern end of the M-53 freeway. This section of the highway is somewhat of a "main street" in Macomb County, as it is home to a wide variety of shopping and dining including Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights and The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township. Although it is neither officially designated nor commonly referred to as such, the Hall Road portion of M-59 is coextensive with "20 Mile Road" in the Detroit Mile Road system. Near its eastern terminus, M-59 crosses both M-97 (Groesbeck Highway) and M-3 (Gratiot Avenue). East of Gratiot, Hall Road is called the William P. Rosso Highway. M-59 ends at the freeway interchange with I-94 while Rosso Highway continues along the northern edge of Selfridge Air National Guard Base to Lake St. Clair.