 Grand River Avenue started as the path of an early wagon trail in the Michigan Territory , carrying settlers from Detroit inland along a route previously used by Native Americans . It was later a plank road that helped to connect Detroit with the state capital of Lansing and Grand Rapids . When the state highway system was signed in 1919 , the <unk> was numbered as part of M @-@ 16 . Later it became US Highway 16 ( US 16 ) . Grand River Avenue was supposed to be the path for I @-@ 96 from Novi into downtown Detroit , and a section of freeway now used by M @-@ 5 was constructed as part of I @-@ 96 before the Interstate was rerouted to a different location . In the 1990s another section of freeway , which was originally proposed for a northern extension of I @-@ 275 , was opened . This freeway called the Haggerty Connector was added to M @-@ 5 . Additional projects have extended the highway farther north and added a roundabout to the northern terminus . A different highway was previously designated M @-@ 5 in another area of the state in the 1930s . 
