Editing Interstate 696 (section)

===Controversies over middle segment===
[[File:I-696 near M-10 in 1988.jpg|thumb|left|Prior to the opening of the central portion of I-696 in the late 1980s, eastbound traffic in Southfield, as seen here in July 1988, was routed to southbound M-10 near the Telegraph Road exit (now exit&nbsp;8); the once-abandoned portion of I-696 appears to the left.|alt= July 1988 photograph showing the barricades directing traffic to divert off I-696 at the Mixing Bowl]]
The central section was the most controversial. Governor [[James Blanchard]] was 15&nbsp;years old and a high school sophomore in neighboring [[Pleasant Ridge, Michigan|Pleasant Ridge]] when the freeway was proposed<ref name=hundley/> and purchased a home in the area in 1972.<ref name=schmidt/> He joked during remarks at the dedication in 1989, "The unvarnished truth about this freeway? I wasn't even alive when it was first proposed,"<ref name=hundley/> and added, "frankly, I never thought it would go through."<ref name=schmidt/> Total cost at completion for the entire freeway at the end of the 30-year project was $675&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|675000000|1989|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}).<ref name=gavrilovich>{{cite book |last1 = Gavrilovich |first1 = Peter |last2 = McGraw |first2 = Bill |year = 2000 |title = The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City |location = Detroit |publisher = Detroit Free Press |page = 235 |isbn = 978-0-937247-34-1 |oclc = 45227386 |name-list-style = amp }}</ref>

Arguments between local officials were so intense that during the 1960s, then-Governor [[George W. Romney]] once locked fighting bureaucrats in a community center until they would agree on a path for the freeway. During the 1970s, local groups used then-new environmental regulations to oppose the Interstate.<ref name=schmidt/> The freeway was noted in a [[United States Congress|Congressional]] subcommittee report on the "Major Interstate System Route Controversy in Urban Areas" for the controversies in 1970. Before 1967, local communities had to approve highway locations and designs, and the debates over I-696 prompted the passage of an arbitration statute. That statute was challenged by Pleasant Ridge and [[Lathrup Village, Michigan|Lathrup Village]] before being upheld by the [[Michigan Supreme Court]].<ref name=1970report>{{cite book |type = Report |author = United States Senate Committee on Public Works Subcommittee on Roads |title = Report on the Status of the Federal-Aid Highway Program Hearing, Ninety-First Congress, Second Session, April 15, 1970 |url = http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008515050 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = [[United States Government Printing Office]] |year = 1970 |page = 93 |access-date = August 21, 2012 |oclc = 691111639 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151120184713/http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008515050 |archive-date = November 20, 2015 }}</ref> Lathrup Village later withdrew from a planning agreement in 1971; had that agreement been implemented, construction on the central section was scheduled to commence in 1974 and finish in 1976.<ref name=lathrup>{{cite news |title = Lathrup Withdrawal May Delay 696 Development Plan |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0jUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HKsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4275,368026&dq=interstate+696+oak+park&hl=en |work = [[The Argus-Press]] |location = Owosso, Michigan |agency = Associated Press |date = January 4, 1971 |oclc = 36134862 |access-date = August 20, 2012 |via = Google News |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151121002155/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0jUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HKsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4275,368026&dq=interstate+696+oak+park&hl=en |archive-date = November 21, 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Interstate 696 pedestrian plazas Oak Park.jpg|thumb|right|Pedestrian plazas in Oak Park|alt=Aerial photograph of the]]
The community of [[Orthodox Jew]]s in Oak Park wanted the freeway to pass to the north of their suburb. When this was deemed to be futile, the community asked for changes to the design that would mitigate the impact of the freeway to the pedestrian-dependent community. Final approval in 1981 of the freeway's alignment was contingent on these mitigation measures.<ref name=ciatrans>{{cite web |author = Center for Urban Transportation Research |year = 2000 |url = http://www.ciatrans.net/CStud-OP.html |title = Community Cohesion: Oak Park, Michigan |work = Community Impact Assessment |publisher = [[University of South Florida]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060525084323/http://www.ciatrans.net/CStud-OP.html |archive-date = May 25, 2006 |access-date = July 13, 2012 }}</ref> To address the community's unique needs, the state hired a rabbi to serve as a consultant on the project.<ref name=schmidt/> In addition, a series of landscaped plazas were incorporated into the design, forming the tunnels through which I-696 passes. These structures are a set of three {{convert|700|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} bridges that cross the freeway within a mile (1.6&nbsp;km).<ref name=context>{{cite web |first1 = Win |last1 = Stebbins |first2 = Mike |last2 = Eustice |date = March 2006 |title = I-696: Three Pedestrian Plazas Over Freeway |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Appx_B1_MI_Ex_Metro_Region_17_I-696_Three_Pedestrian_Pl_158692_7.pdf |work = MDOT Context Sensitive Solutions Case Study: Metro Region |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |page = B1-17 |access-date = October 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130922111820/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Appx_B1_MI_Ex_Metro_Region_17_I-696_Three_Pedestrian_Pl_158692_7.pdf |archive-date = September 22, 2013 |url-status = live |name-list-style = amp }}</ref> They allow members of the Jewish community to walk to synagogues on the Sabbath and other holidays<ref name=naber>{{cite web |first = MaryAnn |last = Naber |date = November 1, 2006 |title = Final List of Nationally and Exceptionally Significant Features of the Federal Interstate Highway System |url = http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/histpres/final_task4ListFinal.pdf |work = Historic Preservation: Interstate Highway System |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |page = 6 |access-date = July 22, 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120205170003/http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/histpres/final_task4ListFinal.pdf |archive-date = February 5, 2012 }}</ref> when Jewish law prohibits driving.<ref name=schmidt/> These plazas had their length limited; if they were longer, they would be considered tunnels that would require ventilation systems.<ref name=michalak>{{cite news |last = Michalak |first = John |date = January 16, 1981 |title = Traveling into the Future on Imaginary Drive of I-696's Last Link |location = Royal Oak, Michigan |work = The Daily Tribune |issn = 1041-9977 |oclc = 15217591 }}</ref>

The Detroit Zoo was concerned that noise and air pollution from the Interstate would disturb the animals. They were satisfied by $12&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|12000000|1989|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) spent on a new parking ramp and other improvements.<ref name=hundley>{{cite news|last=Hundley |first=Tom |date=December 15, 1989 |title=After 32&nbsp;Years, Motor City Gets New Lifeline |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=A6 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{oclc| 7960243| 232606698}} |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/12/15/after-32-years-motor-city-gets-new-lifeline/ |access-date=July 13, 2012 |url-status =live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116085948/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-12-15/news/8903180323_1_federal-highway-administration-mile-state-highway-officials |archive-date=January 16, 2014 }}</ref> The City of Detroit tried to stop I-696 as well, but in the end the city was forced to redesign its golf course. A refusal to grant an additional {{convert|9|ft|m|spell=in}} of [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] by Detroit forced additional design and construction delays during the 1980s.<ref name=schmidt/>

One of the last obstacles to construction of the freeway was a wetlands area near Southfield. MDOT received a permit from the [[Michigan Department of Natural Resources]] to destroy {{convert|6+1/2|acre}} of wetland and create a replacement {{convert|11|acre|adj=on}} area. In the process, some [[Rosa arkansana|prairie roses]] and wetlands milkweed were transplanted from the path of I-696 in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ib1EAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VLYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3683,1300168 |title = Michigan Freeway Link Won't Smell as Sweet |work = [[The Daily Union|The Junction City Daily Union]] |agency = Associated Press |page = 10 |date = October 14, 1987 |issn = 0745-743X |oclc = 9420312 |access-date = August 15, 2013 |via = Google News |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151121002122/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ib1EAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VLYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3683,1300168 |archive-date = November 21, 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref> The final section of the eight-lane freeway opened at a cost of $436&nbsp;million<ref name=brown/> (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|436000000|1989|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) on December 15, 1989. At the time, one caller to a Detroit radio show commented, "do you realize we have been to the moon and back in the time it has taken to get that road from Ferndale to Southfield?"<ref name=schmidt/>