It also connects residential neighborhoods on the city's east side with suburbs in Macomb County and downtown.

Gratiot continues past the freeway on the city's east side, bordering residential neighborhoods along the way.

Through this area, it had a continuous center turn lane, losing the grassy median it had in places downtown.

[5][6] Past the airport, Gratiot Avenue once again runs through residential neighborhoods while being immediately bordered by commercial properties.

The southern end of M-97 is at the intersection between Gratiot and Gunston avenues just northeast of the Outer Drive junction by the airport.

The trunkline passes the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church near a branch location of the Detroit Public Library at McNichols Street.

[5][6] In Macomb County, M-3 follows a boulevard setup complete with Michigan lefts at the major intersections in the suburbs of Detroit.

There are a series of commercial properties between 10 Mile Road and I-696 (Reuther Freeway) that includes the Eastgate Shopping Center in Roseville.

North of 14 Mile Road, M-3 crosses into Clinton Charter Township next to the Hebrew Memorial Park, a cemetery.

M-3 clips the southeastern corner of Macomb Township near Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

[7] All of M-3 has been listed on the National Highway System,[8] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

[16] Detroit created 120-foot (37 m) rights-of-way for the principal streets of the city, the modern Gratiot Avenue included, in 1805.

[30][31] At the end of 2000, MDOT proposed several highway transfers in Detroit, some of which involved transferring highways in the Campus Martius Park area to city control; another part of the proposal involved MDOT assuming control over a section of Fort Street from the then-northern terminus of M-85 to the then-southern terminus of M-3 at Clark Street.