Michigan’s Lodge Freeway: Why Drivers Ignore Its ‘Too Slow’ Speed Limit

It may come as a surprise to daily drivers of the Lodge Freeway in Detroit who zoom down the expressway at blazing speeds that the highway was actually built to only accommodate slower traffic.

The Lodge or M-10, begins in downtown Detroit and extends 22 miles into Oakland County as Northwestern Highway.

Transportation blog Jalopnik calls the Lodge the freeway with the most ignored speed limit in America.

A Legacy of Slower Speeds: The Lodge Freeway's 1950s Design

The road's design, which dates back to the early days of freeway construction in the 1950s, includes design features that do not allow for a higher speed than the posted 55 miles per hour.

READ MORE: The Michigan Roads That Inspire Excessive Fandom + No One Remembers the Michigan Turnpike Authority that Almost Built Toll Roads Across the State

The reason explained by an engineer with the Michigan Department of Transportation, as the Jalopnik story pulled from a Detroit Free Press story on the subject:

MDOT's Stance: Safety Over Speed for M-10 Drivers

Changing the speed limit on the Lodge is not in the cards...because it simply is not safe. The high walls, tight curves and pinch points at on- and off-ramps demand a slower speed limit, whether drivers adhere to it or not...

While most drivers are traveling over 55 mph today, MDOT would not feel comfortable signing higher and telling them 70 mph is a safe speed based on the current geometry of the road.

Things get even slower for the Lodge as it reaches its end in Downtown Detroit. In its final mile as it passes under Fort Street and tunnels under the Fort Street Plaza and again under the Huntington Place Center, the roadway slows to 45 miles per hour.

The Driver's Reality: Community Reactions to the Lodge's Pace

Many who commented about the Lodge on social media shared the assessment of the very fast speeds on the expressway:

Even the cops and state troopers do 70 and over

I drive this every single day, if you're not going 70+ you getting passed!

Who needs the autobahn when we have the lodge?

Driving 55 on the lodge is flat out dangerous. Would be safer to just raise it to 70 so everyones going the same speed

The Lodge doesn't scare me. The Southfield on the other hand? You better keep your head on a swivel cuz cars will come up along side you in 2.5 seconds. That is until you hit Michigan Avenue cuz we all know that's where the Dearborn PD starts their radar detectors

👇🏼BELOW: Every Interstate Highway in Michigan Has Quirks - Here They Are + The Evolution of D. Stumpy - the Detroit Roadside Sports Mascot👇🏼

It appears no matter what the posted speed limits are, Lodge drivers are gonna be Lodge drivers.