© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Federal grant to help decommission highway, restore Detroit neighborhoods

Michigan has accepted a federal grant to help convert I-375 into a street-level boulevard.
Executive Office of the Governor
Michigan has accepted a federal grant to help convert I-375 into a street-level boulevard.

A nearly $105 million federal grant will help pay for decommissioning an interstate highway, replacing it with a street-level boulevard, and restoring two historically black neighborhoods in Detroit.

A lot of asphalt across the country rests atop former businesses, vibrant family lives, and lost opportunities to build generational wealth. They've been paved over by interstate highways.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announce federal grant to start the process of converting I-375 in Detroit to a neighborhood boulevard. I-375 split Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood and Paradise Valley entertainment district when it was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.
Rick Pluta
/
Michigan Public Radio Network
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announce federal grant to start the process of converting I-375 in Detroit to a neighborhood boulevard. I-375 split Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood and Paradise Valley entertainment district when it was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.

I-375 in Detroit is one of them. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that the federal grant represents a chance to help right a wrong.

“The purpose of transportation is to connect,” he said. “But we have seen examples in many communities, including here, where an infrastructure decision serves to divide.”

I-375 splintered the Black Bottom residential area and the Paradise Valley entertainment district when it was constructed in the 1950s and early 1960s.

“We’re not raising these issues to make everybody feel bad,” said Buttigieg. “We’re raising these issues to insist that they be fixed, and it’s why … this isn’t just a history lesson. This is $100 million to make it better.”

The reconstruction plan includes raising a stretch of highway that currently sinks below ground level and re-creating it as a boulevard with walkways, housing, and businesses.

Buttigieg was joined by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“We cannot change the past, but what we can do is work together to build a more equitable future,” said Whitmer. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing today. That’s what this is really all about.”

The next step is to begin planning the project, with actual construction expected to begin in 2027. The work is still not fully funded. A Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson said talks will begin soon to find regional partners and also to ask the state Legislature for funding.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
Related Content