[6] However, unlike other business loops in Michigan, it had unique reassurance markers—the signs that served as regular reminders of the name and number of the highway.

Several suggestions by community leaders to rename city streets in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. were rejected.

The downtown business community protested the original scope of construction, and the Lansing City Council threatened to cancel the project in response to the controversy.

The designation was decommissioned on March 26, 2024, when MDOT transferred jurisdiction over the trunkline to the city, which planned to convert the one-way segments to two-way traffic.

Eastbound traffic continued on Allegan Street, passing to the south of the Hall of Justice,[9][10] home to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Past Butler Boulevard, traffic passed the north side of the Library of Michigan and Historical Center complex.

[12] The Capitol Loop met the one-way pairing of Cedar and Larch streets on Michigan Avenue near Cooley Law School Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team.

This interchange at exit 7 along I-496 marked the eastern end of the Capitol Loop, but BL I-96 continues south of I-496 on Cedar Street.

Along the Capitol Loop, the highest traffic counts were measured on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The highway designation was part of a partnership between the State of Michigan and the City of Lansing to revitalize the downtown area.

The designation of this highway provided drivers with a signed route to various attractions in the downtown Lansing area.

This project included an initial $80,000 investment (equivalent to $189,000 in 2023[15]) to streetscaping between the State Capitol and the Grand River.

[16] The City of Lansing transferred jurisdiction over the streets involved to MDOT on October 13, 1989, allowing the state to commission the trunkline.

[2] The route serves the Capitol Park, which was created by an act of the Michigan Legislature in 1984 with the boundaries of Ottawa, Allegan and Logan streets.

[18] The State Capitol, previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 1971,[19] was renovated as part of this revitalization effort.

The extensive, three-year renovation of the Capitol was completed in 1992,[20] the same year in which it was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The Pastor's Conference of Lansing put forward renaming Logan Street in honor of the civil rights leader, but residents were not supportive of this idea at the time.

MDOT was seeking to rebuild the streets to improve the downtown area around the State Capitol, adding decorative sidewalks, lighting and planting new trees.

MDOT stated that the project would completely close streets along the loop, with the exception of one lane of traffic in each direction along Michigan Avenue.

The project was nicknamed in the press "Lansing's 'Big Dig'" because the sewer and utility work required 30-foot (9.14 m) excavations in the streets downtown.

Some initial opposition was based on a false assumption that the project would close the entire length of the streets at once, instead of in stages.

[25] The city council tabled the project, postponing a final decision on approving it until the businesses' concerns could be addressed.

[27] After the decision to delay the project, Mayor Tony Benavides appointed a task force to work with the businesses to address their concerns.

[29] The city announced a revised plan on November 19, 2003, to move parts of the sewer project to a separate timeline so that they would take 16 years to complete.

The Michigan Supreme Court distributed color-coded brochures to alert employees of changes as a result of the project.

Under this law, the streets that comprise the Capitol Loop were mismarked according to the Michigan State Police (MSP).

[40] The Lansing city attorney was dismissing speeding tickets issued on the Capitol Loop in June 2010.

[43] As Jones explained to reporters, the current situation is one where "... streets are artificially posted too low for the purpose of writing tickets.

"[42] The length of the Capitol Loop that ran independent of BL I-96 was transferred to the City of Lansing on March 26, 2024.