In 1951, Charles M. Ziegler, State Highway Commissioner, announced that the proposed north-south US-131 state highway would be routed directly through downtown Grand Rapids and that planning for its construction would begin in the next year. It was suggested that a route west of the Grand River was chosen in order to avoid the costly acquisition of valuable property on the east bank of the Grand River. The State Highway Commission responded that the West Side routing between Turner/Mt. Vernon and Scribner Ave. was chosen because traffic studies had concluded that the greatest amount of traffic was in the flow between Northwest and South.

In August, 1957, Keith M. Honey, Grand Rapids City Planning Director pointed out that many families might be hurt by the demolition necessitated by this routing. In an exhaustive study of the possible effects of the expressway route, Honey showed that around 800 dwellings would need to be razed and an additional 600 would be isolated between the expressway and the river. Honey sought federal aid in an urban renewal project to assist these people and gave the work a high priority.

In September 1957, in response to comments by 1st ward City Commissioners Bernard S. Barto and Stanley J. Davis, Honey requested that the route be shifted further east, between Scribner and Front Ave. This routing would have a smaller negative impact on community. John C. Mackie, City Highway Commissioner, and Paul Goebel, Mayor, had determined that Honey's proposed routing would make the construction of the interchange with the proposed US 16 (now I 196) far too costly because it would be too near the river. The east-west routing of US 16 expressway was still tentative at this time, but would most likely be built through the center of residential, industrial and commercial areas on both sides of the river. As a result of Honey's efforts, however, a large number of West Side residents and property owners were able to get more equitable assessments and hence better prices for their homes.

By 1960, all property needed for the construction of US-131 through Grand Rapids had been condemned. By 1962, all necessary property for I-196 through Grand Rapids had been condemned. Construction began shortly afterward.