Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday that her state will move forward with plans to replace the outdated 1-375 freeway with an urban boulevard – a move she said will spur economic development and provide easier access to areas of Detroit.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) said it concluded its environmental review process, which allows the project to move on to the design phase. The MDOT anticipated the next phase would begin in spring.
“With the conclusion of the environmental clearance phase, we will continue moving forward on the I-375 project,” Whitmer said. “Since I took office, Michigan has fixed over 13,000 lane miles of road and over 900 bridges while supporting nearly 82,000 jobs. As we continue getting things done on the roads, however, we must take a closer look at the unjust legacy of so many of our freeways. This includes I-375, which paved through two prosperous Black neighborhoods decades ago, displacing 130,000 people, hundreds of small businesses, churches, and more. Now, we must build up our state’s infrastructure with equity at the core. While we cannot change the past, we must work harder to build a more just future, and that starts with listening to and engaging with the community and taking deliberate steps to get this done right.”
Whitmer’s office said I375 was built more than 50 years ago and demolished prominent Black neighborhoods to make way for the freeway. Opened in 1964, the freeway created a barrier between the central business district of Detroit and neighborhoods to the east, which resulted in decades of underinvestment and lack of opportunity in predominantly Black communities there.
Several blocks of commercial and residential buildings were also leveled to make way for the freeway and urban renewal, the office said. Despite cross-bridges, many of the properties in that area declined due to reduced connectivity. As a result, the community’s economic and residential base was dislocated.
“As development has pushed east from downtown and west from Lafayette Park, the barrier that I-375 represents in our city has become even more apparent,” said Mike Duggan, mayor of Detroit. “Removing the freeway ditch and replacing it with a street-level boulevard will unlock enormous development opportunities. It was Black residents and Black businesses that were hurt when Black Bottom was wiped out, and they were displaced for the construction of this freeway. Black businesses today should benefit from the enormous development opportunities this project will create. The equity of who participates will be just as important as how the new boulevard ultimately will look.”