Amazing Views On I-75 Between Indian River and Gaylord, Michigan

Read the description! I have some important info and history down below.

For Sebi's Random Tech. Go sub to him, he makes great videos on ThinkPads and other goodies.

Basically he had a video of the Penn Turnpike which reminded me a lot of a segment of Interstate 75 between Gaylord and Indian River in Northern Michigan. Since I have family living up in Cheboygan and we were visiting them for Christmas, why not film some footage of I-75?

The stretch of freeway shown in this video is from Exit 313 just north of Indian River, to Exit 282 in Gaylord. About 20-50 miles from the Mackinac Bridge. I-75 was opened from Gaylord to Indian River in segments between August 31, 1962 and November 15, 1962. After the completion of this segment of freeway, there now was a full freeway route from just north of Detroit all the way to Mackinac. However, I-75 wouldn't be fully completed in Michigan until November 1973.

In the early 1960s, while the Interstate highway building boom was going full tilt, the program was also suffering a bit of a negative identity crisis. Some were alleging the program was a bottomless pit of waste for taxpayer dollars as some instances of fraud and misappropriation of funds had occurred alongside the building of hundreds of miles of new freeway across the nation. As President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, he and those in his administration tried to stem the tide of negative public opinion by initiating several programs to tout the benefits of the new Interstate highway system. One such program was the the weekly supplement to Sunday newspapers, Parade Magazine, cooperating with the Bureau of Public Roads in holding a competition to select America's finest new scenic highways.

In an October 1963 issue of Parade, the 22.5-mile segment of I-75 from Vanderbilt (which is just north of Gaylord; you'll see Exit 290 as the Vanderbilt exit) to Indian River (part of the so-called "Ohio-to-Soo Freeway" as it was often referred to then) was selected as that year's finest example of a "driver's road" for scenery, speed and safety from across the country. The award was officially called the "Parade Magazine Scenic Highway Award" for 1964, as the selection in late October, 1963 was to be awarded the following year. Unfortunately, the announcement of the selection of this segment of I-75 ended up being pushed aside in many newspapers by the assassination of President Kennedy soon after.

You can find a vintage photo of this segment of I-75 in the official 1964 Michigan map, and on eBay there's a picture selling that was taken in May 1965.

Sources and more info:
http://www.michiganhighways.org/listi...
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23446...
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11060...