DETROIT – The city of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) are scheduled to give I-375 a $300 million makeover.
They have the funds and are developing the final scheme for the redo.
They have settled on filling in I-375 and raising it to street level, making it a boulevard.
“The benefits are just so numerous, opening up 30 plus acres of real estate that we want the communities input on, do you want to see green space, affordable housing, a small business incubator for all of the above,” said MDOT’s Rob Morosi.
MDOT and Detroit have held 50 community input sessions so far and are revising plans based on the feedback they’ve been getting.
Nothing is final, but they have been getting significant pushback from those who live and work in the Lafayette Park area.
“I don’t think any of us are trying to kill the project,” Olga Stella said. “What we want is a better outcome because we’re going to have to live with this for 50-75 years.”
They’re concerned about the still-to-be-finalized design, and the headache traffic will be once construction starts.
The makeover is expected to start in the second half of 2025 and will require two years to complete.