A change in federal policy to discourage road diets means Detroit’s efforts to improve safety on its most dangerous streets won’t include reducing traffic lanes.
The Trump administration’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program makes it more difficult to receive funding for projects that reduce lane capacity for vehicles, according to a funding notice issued last year. Narrowing city streets through “road diets” is still recognized as a way to improve safety by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Detroit’s street design standards.
“Folks want walkable areas and road diets are essential to do that,” District 7 Council Member Denzel McCampbell said during a Monday committee meeting on the city’s Complete Streets efforts. “For the administration to prohibit local governments from doing this is absolutely ridiculous.”
Deputy Director of Complete Streets Christina Peltier said a federal grant agreement prevents Detroit from removing lanes or reducing traffic capacity on Gratiot Avenue.
Detroit received a $12.5 million federal grant to improve the entire stretch of Gratiot Avenue with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Gratiot Avenue spans roughly 120 feet across, including three vehicle lanes in each direction, a center turn lane and curbside parking on both sides. It’s part of Detroit’s High Injury Network, which represents 3% of streets where 34% of all serious crashes occur.
A 2024 state study found that Gratiot’s width and “auto-oriented character” are barriers to pedestrians, affecting the social, educational, and economic opportunities for people living in adjacent neighborhoods.
“Gratiot Avenue was designed for even greater volumes than it serves today, leading to excessive speeds which creates dangerous conditions for people walking, biking, and riding transit along the corridor,” the MDOT report states. “The City of Detroit has encountered challenges attracting new businesses to the corridor outside of downtown.
“As a result, Gratiot Avenue is a corridor that people tend to pass through, rather than visit outside of several key activity nodes, and divides neighborhoods, rather than unite them.”
Council Member Scott Benson, an avid cyclist, said the city had “leaned in” on road diets as a strategy, but the federal government, “actively weighing in against public safety,” undermines that effort. Benson said parking lanes were painted on Gratiot Avenue in the past to remove excess vehicle capacity, but building a boulevard is a much better strategy.
The change in federal policy comes as Detroit moves forward with various planning efforts to address unsafe streets, affecting several grant-funded projects.
Detroit received $31 million in federal grants in 2022 to address the 17 most-dangerous local corridors and $31 million in 2023 to improve 56 dangerous bus stop locations. Peltier said design work is still being done for the first grant and community engagement will start later this year for the second grant program.
A Safe Routes to School program funded through federal and state grants aims to reduce traffic hazards for students. Projects receive roughly $2.5 million annually, going toward sidewalk improvements, crosswalks and signage. A “traffic garden,” planned for Keidan Special Education Center will give kids a chance to practice riding on paved surfaces in a car-free environment.
Detroit is updating its 2006 non-motorized plan through another federal grant. Peltier said the city will schedule community meetings in the next six months to consider the placement of bicycle networks and “slow streets” that include traffic calming measures to improve access for pedestrians and other users.
Detroit’s 2022 Streets for People Safety Action Plan is also being updated. Peltier said it suggests interventions for the high-crash streets.
The city urges residents to paint murals on crosswalks and residential streets to encourage vehicles to slow down.