Jefferson is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Michigan, Grand River, and Gratiot) planned by Judge Augustus B. Woodward in 1805 that extend from downtown Detroit in differing directions. First surveyed in 1807, it was named Main Street. It was later renamed Jefferson Avenue after U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who was a friend of Woodward.[1] Jefferson Avenue was planned to extend due east of downtown, parallel to the Detroit River. Later additions to the road have extended it west of downtown as well, where it continues to travel near the waterfront through the Downriver area.
Although the road is continuous with Jefferson Avenue to the north and south, the name changes in Wyandotte to Biddle Avenue; similarly, in Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Shores, the name changes to Lake Shore Drive. The name also changes to U.S. Turnpike Road in Berlin Township after crossing the Jefferson Avenue Bridge. A gap occurs at the former Selfridge Air Force Base, now a golf course and the Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
Jefferson Avenue's east end is at 23 Mile Road, near the boundary between Chesterfield Township and New Baltimore; the western end is in Berlin Township at the intersection with Dixie Highway and Strong Road.
There are two small gaps in Jefferson Avenue on Detroit's southwest side. The first, one block long between Clark and Scotten streets, is occupied by the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority's Detroit Terminal. The second gap is just under two blocks long, from a point east of 23rd Street to 21st Street under the Ambassador Bridge, and was instituted to increase the security of that bridge's Detroit anchorage.
In downtown Detroit, the southern end of M-10 is routed along Jefferson to the corner of Randolph Street/M-3. From the corner of Randolph to the southern end of I-375 between Beaubien and St. Antoine streets, Jefferson is the extremely short, 0.015-mile-long (0.024 km), unsigned Business Spur I-375.
