Van Dyke Expressway
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Van Dyke Expressway, or Van Dyke Freeway, is an 8.75 mile segment of controlled-access freeway in the U.S. state of Michigan, unconnected to any other freeways in the state. This highway is designated as M-53.
This portion of the M-53 freeway was constructed in the 1960s and was envisioned as part of a much larger project to connect the freeways within the city of Detroit with a proposed M-21 (now I-69 freeway near Imlay City. Only the portion from 18-1/2 Mile Road in Sterling Heights northerly to north of 27 Mile Road near Washington was built, although a massive freeway-to-freeway interchange was completed along I-696 in Warren in the early 1970s.
As of 2004, the Romeo bypass (continuing on north of the freeway) was upgraded to a limited-access, divided expressway (no private access, but without grade-separated interchanges) and long-range plans are to convert this segment to fully controlled-access freeway in the future.
The M-53 freeway in Macomb County is officially named the Christopher Columbus Freeway and signs are posted with this name at many of the interchanges. Radio traffic reports have been known to use the official name, the colloquial "Van Dyke Freeway" as well as "M-53 Freeway" interchangeably over the years.
