Interstate 296 (I-296) is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Michigan. It is a north–south state trunkline highway that runs for entirely within the Grand Rapids area. Its termini are I-196 near downtown Grand Rapids and I-96 on the north side of Grand Rapids in Walker. For most of its length, the Interstate runs concurrently with U.S. Highway 131 (US 131), which continues as a freeway built to Interstate Highway standards north and south of the shorter I-296. The highway was first proposed in the late 1950s and opened in December 1962, but the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has since eliminated all signage for I-296 and removed the designation from their official state map. The designation is therefore unsigned, but still listed on the Interstate Highway System route log maintained by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Route description I-296 begins at the I-196 interchange west of the Grand River and downtown Grand Rapids. For a short distance within the interchange, the three northbound lanes are on the left and the three southbound lanes are on the right, contrary to the normal traffic arrangement in the US. This anomaly is reversed north of the ramps for I-196 as the southbound lanes pass over the northbound lanes. Running parallel to the Grand River on the west bank, the freeway designation begins across the river from the 6th Street Bridge Park and Belknap Hill north of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the DeVos Place Convention Center. The west side of the freeway faces residential neighborhoods and the east side borders commercial businesses and the river. South of the Ann Street interchange, the highway crosses a line of the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad. After crossing both the railroad and Ann Street, the highway widens to allow for a grassy median. The freeway leaves Grand Rapids and enters Walker north of Ann Street. Approaching I-96 from the south, the freeway passes east of the former DeltaPlex Arena, and the median widens further across the river from Comstock Riverside Park in Walker. An extra lane is added on the left, widening the freeway to four lanes. Unsigned I-296 occupies the left two lanes that form the left exit for I-96 from US 131. At the split between I-296 and US 131, I-296 curves northwesterly, and US 131 curves northeasterly to follow a bend in the Grand River.