After hitting pause on the massive effort to rebuild I-375, MDOT has restarted the clock on the project that’s expected to create a street-level boulevard near downtown -- albeit with some changes.
“We wanted to address a lot of the community concerns that we heard that this was too much, and the interchange was kind of a sticking point with a lot of businesses, business owners and entertainment venues,” Rob Morosi, an MDOT spokesman said. “We decided to shorten the boulevard and to propose this concept to the community.”
MDOT introduced the plan during a public meeting Thursday (Nov. 13) at Detroit’s Eastern Market.
MDOT, along with the City of Detroit, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, and the Kresge Foundation, said the 375 Project will now be completed in three phases, allowing for more time for community feedback on design and land use.
“What we really want to accomplish is co-creating a plan with the community to really look at land use and zoning of the excess property that would be created and additionally in reduction of the length of the boulevard would also reduce the amount of excess property by about a third” he said. “We’re looking now at about nine acres that would be developed or open for development.”
The project will eventually transform the 60-year-old, 1.1-mile connector with I-75 – that loops past Ford Field and Eastern Market down to Jefferson Avenue – into a boulevard that will reconnect Lafayette Park with downtown from Gratiot to the Riverfront.
The original proposed boulevard would be six lanes between the interchanges with I-75 and Jefferson and will also include a two-way cycle track on the east side of the boulevard for the first time since construction began on the highway in 1959.
Supporters said turning 375 into a traditional boulevard was supposed to revitalize communities, but opposition from members of the business community, as well as Wayne County executive Warren Evans, led to the project being paused on August 11.
In a statement, the project’s corporate partners said:
“The pause in the I-375 project allows us to strengthen the foundation that will make this project truly transformative.
This is not just rebuilding a roadway but doing the necessary work in rebuilding trust and creating a model for how major infrastructure projects can advance community priorities.”
MDOT will move forward with work on a storm sewer south of Jefferson over the next 2 years, starting sometime in 2026.
That will be along with filling I-375 and building the street-level boulevard from Jefferson to Gratiot.
As part of the boulevard project, the bridge at Gratiot over the Dequindre Cut would also be rebuilt.
The original cost was estimated at $520 million.
Now, minus the delayed interchange portion, it’s estimated to be between $120 million and $140 million.
“Most importantly, we want the community to really have a voice in what is created here,” Morosi said. “To partner with us more so and look to establish a design that the majority of us can agree on.”