Business Route 75 - Interstate Business Loop Guide
Interstate Business Route 75
Interstate 75 has 16 active business loops and one proposed business loop in Monroe, Michigan. One of its spurs, Interstate 375 in Detroit, has a business spur.
GEORGIA
Valdosta
Active
The AAA Map of Georgia has a Valdosta city inset that shows Business Loop 75 in southern Georgia.
Adel
Active
U.S. 41
Tifton
Active
U.S. 41. Most of the business loop shields on the green exit signs off Interstate 75 are shown with a white square behind it. I am not sure if this enhances visibility of the green business loop shield or not, but Georgia and Nebraska seem to be the only states that use the white square background behind the shield. It's still better than California, which uses no shield ....
Cordele
Active
U.S. 41. The 1998 Exit Authority Guide does a pretty good job of verifying the existence of many of the southern Georgia business loops off Interstates 75 and 95.
OHIO
Troy
Active
Harrison Page reports that Business Loop I-75 in Troy follows decommissioned U.S. 25. In Miami County, U.S. 25 became County Rd 25A. (The "A" suffix was added because U.S. 25 still existed at the time of commissioning, and the old route was an alternative.) U.S. 25 is completely gone from Ohio roadways now, but Miami County Route 25A remains as an alternative to Interstate 75. Thus, Business Loop I-75 follows Miami County Rte 25A. The two routes intersect at Exit 69 south of Troy and Exit 78 north of the city. Old U.S. 25 makes one jog in Troy. It enters the city from the south along South Market Street, then goes westward along West Main Street, and leaves the city along North Elm St. Outside the city limits, the roadway is County Rd 25A. Signs for Business Loop I-75 are abundant in Troy, although a crucial one is missing at Market Street-Main Street intersection. Harrison Page reports: "I continued on North Market Street for several miles before concluding I had a missed a turn somewhere. I turned around, went back into town and stumbled upon some more signs. I counted twelve green Business Loop I-75 shields, only three of which are outside city limits. It seems useless to put up business route signs several miles from the intersection with a parent route. I mean, the only people who would know that County Route 25A is also Business Loop I-75 are people who intended to go through Troy anyway!"
Piqua's Business Loop I-75 begins at Exit 78 (where Troy's Business Loop I-75 ends). It follows Miami County Route 25A northward to the Piqua village limits, where it becomes South Main Street. At U.S. 36 (the main east-west cross street, despite its jog), the roadway becomes North Main Street. Outside city limits, the roadway is again Miami County Route 25A. It intersects Interstate 75 at Interchange 83.
Sidney
Active
Sidney's Business Loop I-75 starts at Exit 90 and follows old U.S. 25 through the city. Unlike many other Interstate 75 business loops in Ohio, OHDOT actually posted Business Loop I-75 (Sidney) shields along Interstate 75. Harrison Page suggests that maybe Sidney politicians paid extra money to OHDOT to post their business loop signs.
Findlay
Active
Harrison Page reports that Business Loop I-75 route is as follows: From the south, take Exit 156 off Interstate 75 (you can only go eastward). Follow Ohio 15 eastward to Lima Ave (former U.S. 25). Follow Lima Ave northward to its merger with West Lima Street, only a few hundred feet from South Main Street (former U.S. 68). Follow West Lima Street eastward to South Main Street. and turn northward on South Main Street. At Center St., U.S. 224 will jog onto Main Street. Continue to follow North Main Street northward (now also U.S. 224) to West Trenton Avenue. At West Trenton Avenue, U.S. 224 turns westward and so does Business Loop I-75. Business Loop I-75 continues along U.S. 224 to its north end at Interstate 75. Business Loop I-75 is the former route of the once-mighty U.S. 25. In Hancock County, this roadway still exists as Hancock County Route 313 (Dixie Highway on street signs), and in Findlay, as Lima Avenue. Lima Avenue runs into West Lima Street a few hundred feet from Main Street. U.S. 25 then followed Main Street northward and it is now Hancock County Route 220 north of Findlay. (Based on the street names, I think this is the original alignment, even though my oldest map, a mid-1950s Rand McNally, shows U.S. 25 bypassing Findlay to the west, much the same as Interstate 75 does today.) Meanwhile, U.S. 68 followed Main Street into Findlay. (Harrison guesses it originally began at U.S. 25, then moved northward to U.S. 224 after the U.S. 25 bypass.) Today, the state routes U.S. 68 along the city's southern bypass (Ohio State Route 15), then onto I-75.
Business Loop I-75 in Findlay doesn't appear on any maps of Findlay, including the 1997 Hancock County Engineer's map, the Findlay AAA, the Geosystems maps in the Ameritech phone book for Findlay, the Media Ventures map in the MAST phone book for Hancock County, and Spectrum (now Universal) in Universal's Findlay StreetMap. So, it seems that although the state put up signs for Business Loop I-75, no map makers will recognize that route. The routing was hard to track down, because signs are not abundant. On the southbound route, no signs appear until the intersection of Main and Lima Streets! Northbound, the first sign is, again, the intersection of Main and Lima Streets. There are more signs for the northbound traveler, although a crucial sign is lacking at the intersection of North Main Street and Trenton Avenue that would direct the traveler to follow West Trenton Avenue. That intersection has signs that direct the traveler to use West Trenton Avenue to reach Interstate 75, but none that indicate Business Loop I-75 follows it. Once on West Trenton Avenue though, there are Business Loop I-75 signs. Likewise, although there are I-75 trailblazers at the Lima Ave and Ohio State Route 15 intersection, none indicate Business Loop I-75 uses that route. Because there are no Business Loop I-75 signs along Ohio 15, one might assume that Business Loop I-75 begins much further south, following the Dixie Highway for some distance. Neither the Dixie Highway nor Ohio 15 have Business Loop I-75 signs. The Business Loop I-75 signs are all of the usual, green Interstate-shield variety.
MICHIGAN
Monroe
Proposed
A new business loop I-75 is planned at Monroe, where the business route will connect Interstate 75 with the old alignment of U.S. 25, now part of M-125.
Pontiac
Active
Square Lake Road, Woodward Avenue, and Perry Street. Cosigned with Business U.S. 24 (old Business U.S. 10) through downtown Pontiac; between Exits 75 and 81. The southern part of this business loop is a freeway.
Eastbound Business Spur I-75 begins at exit 162. It proceeds for about one mile along a limited access highway. At the end of the limited access highway, it continues east along Thomas Street. It crosses the Saginaw River on Veterans Memorial Bridge and continues east along McKinley Avenue. Business Spur I-75 ends at Washington Avenue (M-84).
Westbound Business Spur I-75 begins at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Seventh Street. It proceeds west along Seventh Street and crosses the river on Veterans Memorial Bridge. It continues west on Jenny Street which leads in on to the above mentioned limited access highway. Business Spur I-75 ends at the junction of I-75, US-10, and US-23 (exit-162).
Business Spur I-75 is co-signed with M-25 for its entire length. As you approach exit 162 along I-75 from both north and south, no mention is made of Business Spur I-75 on the signage. Only US-10 and M-25 are mentioned. Once you get on Business Spur I-75, it is signed. Thomas Street and Mckinley Avenue are east bound one way streets. Seventh Street and Jenny Street are west bound one way streets. Center Avenue (M-25) is the main east-west route east of the Saginaw River. Most of Business Spur I-75 is west of the river.
West Branch
Active
This business loop serves West Branch
etween Exits 212 and 215.
Roscommon
Active
This business loop serves Roscommon between Exits 239 and 244.
Grayling
Active
This business loop serves Grayling (old U.S. 27) between exits 254 and 259.
Gaylord
Active
This business loop serves Gaylord between Exits 279 and 282; this business route follows old U.S. 27.
Saint Ignace
Active
This business loop serves St. Ignace between Exits 345 and 348; this business route follows old U.S. 2.
Sault Ste. Marie
Active
Business Spur I-75 leads through downtown Sault Ste. Marie to the Sugar Island Ferry Dock.
Detroit, Michigan
Active
The three blocks of Jefferson Avenue between Randolph Street (the terminus of M-10 from the east) and St. Antioine Street at the beginning of the Interstate 375 freeway are referred to by Michigan DOT as Business Spur I-375. Originally I had written that Business Spur I-375 was decommissioned, was only signed in the 1980s along M-10 connector between Interstate 75 and U.S. 12 into downtown Detroit, and is now part of the M-10 freeway. I based all of that on a mid-1980s Rand McNally road map, but it appears that my initial description was wrong. As result of intrepid reporting from Chris Bessert, we now know that Business Spur I-375 is still around and is very short, from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel east to the southern end of Interstate 375. The MDOT Physical Reference Atlas lists the section of Jefferson Avenue between M-3/Randolph Street and the beginning of the Interstate 375 freeway as "I-375/Jefferson Avenue." The section Jefferson Avenue cannot be part of Interstate 375, as it is a surface street with uncontrolled access. Signs along the route denote "To Interstate 375," and it seems like "Business Spur I-375" is an MDOT internal designation.
