The Interstates in Michigan have their origins in World War II-era expressways built in the Detroit area.

The original allotment of mileage to Michigan which would receive federal funding was expanded in 1968, and the United States Congress designated an additional highway in the 1990s that has not yet been built.

These highways are built to Interstate Highway standards,[6] meaning they are all freeways with minimum requirements for full control of access, design speeds of 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 113 km/h) depending on type of terrain, a minimum of two travel lanes in each direction, and specific widths of lanes or shoulders;[7] exceptions from these standards have to be approved by the FHWA.

[16] Interagency politics stalled progress on any proposed turnpikes[17] while MSHD had three freeways under planning or construction.

Seizing the opportunity brought by a 1957 state law, the department sold $700 million in bonds (equivalent to $5.81 billion in 2011[19]) in the late 1950s and early 1960s to finance land purchases and construction of the new freeways.

The goal was to connect every city with a population over 50,000 with four-lane freeways that could accommodate rural traffic traveling at 70 mph (110 km/h).

[20] The first highway to be signed as an Interstate in Michigan was I-75, which received signage in late 1959, along a section near the Ohio state line that opened to traffic in October 1957.

[31] If built as designated, I-73 would cross into Michigan near Toledo, Ohio, and connect Jackson, Lansing, and Clare to I-75 at Grayling.