End of US highway 10 |
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Summa
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Summa
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1926-1969
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1969-1986
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1986-present
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Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 710 miles for US 10... however, that included the mileage of US 10's associated business route. According to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 spreadsheet, mainline US 10's actual end-to-end total at the time was 706 miles. That is reasonably close to our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 713.3 miles (reroutings and realignments likely explain the difference). Historically, US 10 was among the longest US routes, measuring 2128 miles (note that none of those figures include the 60-mile car ferry trip between Michigan and Wisconsin).
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Claim to fame: US 10 is one of only two existing US highways whose route still includes a ferry segment (the other is US 9).
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This map showing the original extent of US 10 was included in a 1927 US Dept. of Agriculture Office of Information press release, issued shortly after the US routes were commissioned:
c. 1927, US Government Printing Office
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Now that most of its original route has been functionally replaced by newer interstates, US 10 has been reduced to a mere shadow of its former self: it exists only between Bay City and Fargo. But for the first 60 years of its existence, the east end of US 10 was in Detroit...
...and for over 40 years, the west end of US 10 was in Seattle. Originally traffic was directed into town on Rainier Avenue and Dearborn Street. Then US 10 angled northwest on Airport Way and ended at 4th Avenue, which was US 99. This photo shows that perspective... |
Elbert, Feb. 2005
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...although this area has been rebuilt and probably looks nothing like what it did when US 10 ended there. Next is a shot from southbound 4th, or historic southbound US 99:
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Elbert, Feb. 2005
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Originally US 10 began to the left. But later, in the 1950s, when US 99 was rerouted along the Alaskan Way Viaduct and tunnel, US 10 was extended along the former route of US 99 through downtown. This next photo is looking north on Aurora Avenue, where traffic coming from Battery Street, 7th Avenue, and Denny Way (on the right) merges with traffic coming out of the tunnel (on the left):
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Elbert, Feb. 2005
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That would have marked the endpoint of US 10. Note the old green sign bridge at far left; that is also visible in this next photo, which was looking the opposite direction (south on Aurora):
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Elbert, Feb. 2005
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That is now southbound WA hwy. 99, but it was formerly US 99. Traffic is directed to go straight ahead into the tunnel, but at one time US 10 traffic would have been directed to take the Denny Way/Downtown exit. Signage is shown close-up here:
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Elbert, Feb. 2005
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1969 saw the first in a series of transitional truncations of US 10 that took place as segments of its replacement (I-90) were completed. Below is the agenda item from AASHO's actual meeting minutes:
Within five years the length of US 10 had been reduced by nearly 500 miles, and it no longer existed in Washington or Idaho. Then in 1986 the US 10 designation was removed from all of Montana, and most of North Dakota, shortening its length by another 900 miles:
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Today the west end of US 10 is west of Fargo, at its interchange with I-94. This photo shows the last westbound US 10 marker:
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Wilson
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That was looking west on Main Avenue in West Fargo (that assembly had been replaced by 2007). Continuing that direction, one reaches the west end of the route, shown here:
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Nitzman, Apr. 2007
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That shows the signage at the west end of US 10/Business I-94. The original route continued west from here, roughly along today's I-94, to Billings MT. From there, US 10 basically followed modern I-90 all the way to Seattle. One can still drive on much of the original route. This next photo was taken from eastbound I-94:
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Nitzman, Apr. 2007
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Today US 10 begins by exiting to the right, then passing over I-94, and then resuming on the alignment straight ahead. At that point, the first eastbound US 10 marker is posted:
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Nitzman, Apr. 2007
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One year before being truncated at West Fargo, the east end of US 10 was shortened as well, because the segment between Detroit and Bay City was eliminated. These photos were taken in Bay City, from southbound I-75:
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Ivy/Nitzman, 2009
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Sanderson, Jun. 2022
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The east beginning of US 10 is to the right. Drivers exiting that direction almost immediately encounter the first westbound confirming marker:
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Sanderson, Jun. 2022
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Heading the opposite direction, the final eastbound trailblazer is posted after the on-ramp from Mackinaw Road:
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Sanderson, Jun. 2022
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The signs barely visible in the distance are shown close-up here; this next shot was taken from eastbound US 10 at the I-75 interchange (the overpass is Three Mile Rd):
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Sanderson, May 1999
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All of those signs were later replaced, including (perhaps most strangely) the "US 10 Ends" assemblies, which were changed to "Ends US 10"...
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Allen, Dec. 2009
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...and that entire sign bridge was dismantled in 2016 and moved farther away from the Three Mile overpass. It is not easy to get a decent photo of these signs, and sometimes we are lucky to be able to rely on Google Street View:
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Google Maps Street View, Sep. 2019
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The highway itself does continue straight ahead into Bay City, but east of the I-75 interchange it is designated M-25. It is interesting that US 10 ends here now, considering that Bay City was not even on the original alignment of US 10. Instead, from Midland, it followed today's M-47 and M-58 into downtown Saginaw. From there, it roughly followed I-75 through Flint and Pontiac, where it was then routed along Woodward Avenue right into the heart of downtown Detroit. It ended there on the waterfront, along with US 16, US 12, and US 112, at its junction with US 25. Today, US 12 is the only one of those highways still serving downtown (more info on the Detroit page).
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These photos were from the opposite direction: eastbound on M-25 at the beginning of US 10:
Hatchard, Jan. 2003
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Sanderson, Jun. 2022
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Heading that direction, today's US 10 is routed onto a newer limited-access freeway between Bay City and Clare. However, most (if not all) of the original route is still driveable from Detroit to Clare. West of Clare, US 10 has not changed much. Upon arriving in Ludington, one must use a car ferry in order to get across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc WI, where US 10 continues westward. The signage in Ludington belies that fact, though:
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Reynolds, May 2002
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Voss, Sep. 2018
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But, heading the other direction on US 10 in Wisconsin, signage in Manitowoc leaves no question that US 10 continues via the ferry:
Voss, Sep. 2018
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In the background is visible one of the car ferries that AASHTO considers an official component of the US 10 facility. It actually has an image of a US 10 shield on it:
Kasprzyk, Sep. 2012
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Research and/or photo credits: Patrick Allen; Chris Elbert; Geoff Hatchard; Brent Ivy; Bruce Kasprzyk; Alex Nitzman; Brian Reynolds; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Oscar Voss; Ed Wilson
Page originally created 1999;
last updated Jun. 18, 2022.
last updated Jun. 18, 2022.
