Planning and initial construction Interstate 696

1955 planning map detroit s interstate highways

i-696 part of original interstate highway system outlined in 1956–58. proposed michigan state highway department, freeway have been numbered i-98. construction started in 1961. lodge freeway, first segment of opened in 1957, given business spur i-696 designation in 1962. first segment of i-696 built western third of completed freeway opened in 1963–64 @ cost of $16.6 million (equivalent $267 million in 2016). section ran i-96 in novi east lodge freeway in southfield. then-unfinished freeway named walter p. reuther, former leader of united auto workers labor union after , wife died in plane crash on may 9, 1970. next year michigan legislature approved naming passing senate concurrent resolution 57.

in late 1970s, during second phase of construction, lobbying efforts , lawsuits attempted block construction of central section. if successful, efforts have left freeway gap in middle between first (western) , second (eastern) phases of construction. during time, mdot assigned m-6 eastern section of freeway under construction. signs erected along service roads followed 11 mile road connect built stack interchange @ i-75 east i-94. time eastern freeway segment opened in january 1979 between i-94 , i-75, signage m-6 removed , replaced i-696 signage; cost $200 million (equivalent $982 million in 2016) complete. later in 1979, closure scheduled allow work completed on 3 of 9 interchanges on segment.