Seven Mile Road is an east-west paved county road that terminates at East Shore Drive after turning northwest at Donna Lane. It is a major county road that traverses the majority of Salem and Northfield Townships and intersects Pontiac Trail. Donna Lane is an unimproved stub road that comes to an abrupt end and does not connect to any other road. This situation, in addition to the presence of several wetlands and a high speed rail corridor, has lead to a lack of east-west connectivity in this area of Washtenaw County. Completion of Seven Mile Road will also lead to greater local access to US-23.
Discussions about the project began in 1995 when the Northfield Township Board passed a Resolution (No. 95-176) that authorized the process of seeking "all necessary information for the implementation of the Seven Mile Connector". Reasons given were the rapid growth of the township, concern for the overburdening of East Shore Drive, and the observation that it was consistent with the township's Master Plan. At this time, Adler Development constructed a new development in the area and built a portion of Seven Mile Road as a part of the development.
Washtenaw County Road Commission is pursuing an extension of Seven Mile Road to Main Street through the existing stub road adjacent to the Northfield Township Public Safety Building. The preliminary alignment work done by the Road Commission suggests that the route will have to tie into the existing portion of Seven Mile Road, cross at least one wetland, and cross a high speed rail corridor. The project will include the improvement of Donna Lane to accommodate existing and future congestion issues as well as safety concerns.
The WCRC has contracted with JJR, Inc. to complete an Environmental Assessment for this project. It is anticipated that the Environmental Assessment will be completed by early 2008, although the project itself is not scheduled to be constructed until 2011.