Portal:Michigan highways/Selected article/March 2013

M-1, commonly known as Woodward Avenue' and called "Detroit's Main Street", runs from Detroit northwesterly to Pontiac along one of the five principal avenues of Detroit. These streets were platted in 1805 by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, namesake to Woodward Avenue. It followed the route of the Saginaw Trail, an Indian trail that linked Detroit with Saginaw. In the age of the auto trails, Woodward Avenue was also part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway and the Dixie Highway. Woodward Avenue was the location of the first mile (1.6 km) of concrete roadway in the country. When Michigan created the State Trunkline Highway System in 1913, the roadway was included, becoming part of M-10 by 1919. Later, it was part of US Highway 10 (US 10) following the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System; since 1970, it has borne the M-1 designation. The U.S. Department of Transportation has listed the highway as the Automotive Heritage Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program. It has also been designated a Michigan Heritage Route by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and included in the MotorCities National Heritage Area designated by the U.S. Congress in 1998. The name Woodward Avenue has become synonymous with Detroit, cruising culture and the automotive industry, playing host to the Woodward Dream Cruise annually. (more...)

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