Olds Freeway

Olds Freeway. Interstate 496. , The Olds Freeway, also known as Interstate 496 or 1-496, is an 11.9 mile stretch of freeway under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Transportation. The freeway runs east and west through the center of Lansing. An average of 70,000 vehicles travel on it every day., In the early 1960s, as a result of economic progress and urban growth, it was determined that a route was needed to connect major thoroughfares and provide better access to Lansing's urban core. Construction of the freeway started in 1963, and the freeway opened on December 18, 1970. The new thoroughfare was named Olds Freeway, for Ransom Eli Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile and the REO Motor Car Company., Near the Lansing Board of Water and Light's Central Substation once stood a historic neighborhood, housing many of Lansing's most distinguished and influential residents. They included automobile pioneer Ransom Eli Olds (right: Olds Mansion), railroad tycoon Orlando M. Barnes (below: Barnes Castle) and Eugene Cooley, founder of the city's first gas works. Most of this neighborhood, along with a historical African-American neighborhood west of this location, was razed to make way for parking lots and the Olds Freeway., Olds Mansion , Designed by renowned Lansing architect Darius B. Moon and built in 1904 on the site of the former Benton House, Lansing's earliest hotel, the former home of Ransom Eli Olds was demolished in 1963., Barnes Castle , Railroad tycoon Orlando M. Barnes built what was one of Lansing's finest mansions in 1875-76. The Barnes Castle, as it was known, was a premier example of Victorian architecture. The castle was demolished in 1957.