The trunkline also passes a former assembly plant used by Oldsmobile and runs along or crosses parts of the Grand and Red Cedar rivers.

As the trunkline neared completion, competing proposals to name it resulted in two similar, but separate designations applied to I-496.

[7] Continuing eastward, I-496 passes north of the assembly plant complex and south of the central business district.

East of a partial interchange with Walnut Street, the freeway passes the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, which is located on I-496's southern service drive.

The south side of the freeway is adjacent to Cooley Gardens near the confluence of the Grand and Red Cedar rivers.

I-496 crosses the Grand River downstream from the confluence and meets the interchange to Business Loop I-96 (BL I-96, Cedar and Larch streets) and Pennsylvania Avenue.

[8] I-496 runs parallel to the north side of the rail line while Malcolm X Street follows to the south as far as the Clemens Avenue overpass.

South of campus, I-496/US 127 crosses back into Lansing and has an interchange with Jolly Road before entering Delhi Township.

About two-thirds of a mile (1.1 km) south of Jolly Road, I-496 meets I-96 and terminates; US 127 continues southward as a freeway toward Jackson.

The neighborhood was formed through "unwritten rules of segregation" as real estate agents and mortgage brokers guided black residents to the area when they were looking to buy homes.

The neighborhood boasted a community center and several businesses that catered to the black population of Lansing, including the only record store that sold rhythm and blues music.

The construction spurred integration of blacks into the wider community; some were able to move into neighborhoods previously closed to them, purchasing "newer houses near better schools.

[22][23] The remaining section between M-99 (then Logan Street, now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) and I-496/US 127 opened on December 18, 1970, completing construction.

The work will widen the highway to three lanes in each direction, reconfigure interchanges, improve bridges, and upgrade lighting conditions, among other changes.

[31] In January 2025, the city of Lansing was awarded a $1 million federal grant to develop a plan to cap portions of I-496.

[32] According to city officials, the current plan is to cap the portion of I-496 between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Walnut Street.

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

The first was related to suggestions by community leaders to rename city streets in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.[24] Another controversy dealt with rebuilding the streets as part of a downtown beautification project; the downtown business community protested the original scope of construction,[41] and the Lansing City Council threatened to cancel the project in response to the controversy.