Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has forwarded correspondence to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding federal support for a freeway modernization effort.
The letter emphasized the importance of upgrading I-375 and the I-75/ I-375 Interchange in Detroit, encouraging investment to reconnect communities isolated by freeway design while expanding upon state initiatives to repair local roads and create jobs.
“As your Department implements the Reconnecting Communities program, I write to highlight my administration’s focus to complete planning and begin design efforts to replace I-375, a depressed freeway, that when built more than 50 years ago, demolished the prominent African American neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in the city of Detroit and created a barrier between the central business district and neighborhoods to the east,” Whitmer wrote.
Whitmer maintains in the correspondence, I-375, the I-75 / I-375 Interchange, and affiliated bridges are nearing the end of useful service life and require modernization.
“Now, nearly three generations later, we have an opportunity to eliminate this obstacle and provide easier access to better jobs, services, and quality of life to the residents of adjacent areas of persistent poverty,” Whitmer concluded. “As you have stated that the highway design corrections your Department may fund will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, I welcome hosting you to tour the I-375 project and to visit with the community members engaged with the redesign effort so you can see firsthand how the project is a perfect candidate for the Reconnecting Communities program.”