The state trunkline highway is also known as the Walter P. Reuther Freeway, named for the prominent auto industry union head by the Michigan Legislature in 1971.

It starts by branching off I-96 and I-275 at its western terminus in Farmington Hills, and runs through suburbs including Southfield, Royal Oak and Warren before merging into I-94 at St. Clair Shores on the east end.

Construction started on the first segment in 1961, and the Lodge Freeway was designated Business Spur Interstate 696 (BS I-696) the following year.

I-696, which has been called "Detroit's Autobahn" by some residents,[4] reflecting a reputation for fast drivers,[5] begins in the west in the city of Novi as a left exit branching off I-96.

This ramp is a portion of the I-96/I-696/I-275/M-5 interchange that spans the north–south, Novi–Farmington Hills city line linking together five converging freeways.

The freeway curves southeasterly and then northeasterly through the complex as it runs eastward through the adjacent residential subdivisions.

[9] After passing through the Mixing Bowl, I-696 follows 11 Mile Road, which forms a pair of service drives for the main freeway.

The Interstate passes through the city of Lathrup Village before turning southward and then easterly on an S-shaped path to run along 10 Mile Road.

The Interstate then picks up 10 Mile Road, which forms a pair of service drives, as the Reuther runs along the border between the cities of Oak Park and Huntington Woods.

Immediately east of the zoo, the Interstate intersects M-1 (Woodward Avenue),[7][8] and crosses a line of the Canadian National Railway that also carries Amtrak passenger service between Detroit and Pontiac.

[11] East of the rail crossing, I-696 has a four-level stack interchange with I-75 over the quadripoint for Royal Oak, Madison Heights, Hazel Park and Ferndale.

Near the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, I-696 has another stack interchange for Mound Road; through the junction, the freeway makes a slight bend to the south.

The Interstate crosses into Roseville near the M-97 (Groesbeck Highway) interchange and then meets M-3 (Gratiot Avenue) just west of the eastern terminus at I-94 (the Edsel Ford Freeway) in St. Clair Shores.

The service drives merge in this final interchange and 11 Mile Road continues due east to Lake St.

[1] The then-unfinished freeway was named for Walter P. Reuther, former leader of the United Auto Workers labor union after he and his wife died in a plane crash on May 9, 1970.

Governor James Blanchard was 15 years old and a high school sophomore in neighboring Pleasant Ridge when the freeway was proposed[25] and purchased a home in the area in 1972.

[26] Arguments between local officials were so intense that during the 1960s, then-Governor George W. Romney once locked fighting bureaucrats in a community center until they would agree on a path for the freeway.

Before 1967, local communities had to approve highway locations and designs, and the debates over I-696 prompted the passage of an arbitration statute.

That statute was challenged by Pleasant Ridge and Lathrup Village before being upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court.

[5][35] During speed enforcement patrols in August 2022, the Michigan State Police gave out 77 citations during one 4-hour period including six arrests.