Interstate 296 (I-296) is a part of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Michigan. It is a state trunkline highway that runs for 3.43 miles (5.52 km) parallel to the Grand River on the west bank, entirely within the Grand Rapids area. Its termini are I-196 near downtown Grand Rapids and I-96 on the north side of Grand Rapids in Walker. For most of its length, the Interstate runs concurrently with US Highway 131, which continues as a freeway built to Interstate Highway standards north and south of the shorter I-296. The highway was first proposed in the late 1950s and opened in December 1962. The Michigan Department of Transportation has since eliminated all signage for I-296 and removed the designation from their official state map, leaving it unsigned, but I-296 is still listed on the Interstate Highway System route log maintained by the Federal Highway Administration. (Full article...)