A milestone was reached on Wednesday in the multi-year effort to redesign I-375, which connects 75 to the Ren Cen and the Riverfront. The state announced that the plan to modernize the mile-long urban freeway will move forward.
The plan is to turn the freeway into a street-level boulevard from just south of I-75/I-375 to the Detroit Riverfront. We'd see new configuration at Mack Avenue, Gratiot, and increased connectivity from Brush Park to Eastern Market. The reconfiguration would also include a bike lane that would connect with the Dequindre Cut.
I-375 was opened in 1964. The construction of the freeway destroyed Hastings Street and the Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods, both prominent neighborhoods for Black businesses and residents.
"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 Detroit mayor Mike Duggan. "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. We can replicate what we did up on Livernois when we worked with neighbors to reimagine that historic business district, which is now the city's most vibrant and successful Black-owned business corridor."
The project is also seen as a way to greater connect the nearby neighborhoods to downtown, as well as increase areas for redevelopment.
The next steps in the process include redesignation of 375 as a non-freeway, and finalizing the design. Construction still isn't expected to start until 2027.
