A plan to reshape a stretch of freeway between Detroit’s downtown and lower east side neighborhoods is more than an infrastructure project.
Replacing I-375 with a street-level boulevard also has implications for economic development and historic preservation, according to planners.
The Kresge Foundation was an original investor in planning studies to consider removing I-375 and is considering how reparative justice can be achieved through the project. In March, the nonprofit formed the “Reparative Roundtable,” a group of 20 stakeholders to devise a strategy for collecting feedback from residents, including descendants of those who were historically displaced. The group will continue meeting twice monthly through the next year.
Participants also include representatives from Detroit Future City, Black Bottom Archives, Detroit People’s Platform, Doing Development Differently Detroit, Detroit Greenways Coalition, Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, Detroit River Project, Institute for Afro Futurism, and The Carr Center.
One major question associated with the I-375 Reconnecting Communities Project is how officials will make good on a promise to recognize the cultural significance of majority-Black neighborhoods that were destroyed in the 1960s to make room for new housing – an early example of gentrification in action.
The teardown of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley culminated with the installation of I-375. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) committed to exploring how to recognize the significance of displaced communities and businesses.
MDOT planning documents specifically name land acquisitions through eminent domain and the resulting highway development as “racist.”
“MDOT acknowledges that at the time, the condemnation process in Detroit was on its face discriminatory and can fairly be represented in today’s terms as an environmental injustice that
disproportionately affected a large population of low-income and minority population,” states a 2022 MDOT planning document.
The Kresge roundtable shared five initial expectations for the city of Detroit and MDOT:
- Community Benefits – Commit to 3-5 community benefits informed by community input. Areas could include mobility indicators. Examples include affordable housing, workforce development, small business development and environmental justice measures.
- Dedicated space for historical/cultural acknowledgement – Acknowledge cultural erasure caused by I-375 through integration of Black history and cultural expressions into the built environment. Examples include dedicated cultural spaces for history recognition, celebration and preservation
- Intentional commitment to tie mobility benefits to economic opportunities – Examples include hospitable to thriving Black business corridor, streets designed to permit mixed-use, investible opportunities for residents and perpetual land protections
- People-centered design – For vibrant and sustainable street life. Examples include a complete streets approach, wide sidewalks, sustainable landscapes, respecting and enhancing the local ecology
- Construction mitigation – For residents, businesses, and surrounding neighborhoods
A $1.85 million Kresge grant is also supporting the Downtown Detroit Partnership’s efforts to engage residents and stakeholders about the freeway design and mitigating impacts of a multi-year construction process.
DDP in turn hired a group of design firms and held meetings with representatives of Eastern Market, Greektown, Lafayette Park, the city’s sports and entertainment district and others.
In 2014, the Kresge Foundation provided a planning grant to the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. (DEGC) to study the potential elements for transforming I-375 back into a boulevard. Kresge Detroit Program Managing Director Wendy Lewis Jackson spoke with BridgeDetroit about the foundation’s role in the I-375 project.
Editor’s note: This conversation has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
BridgeDetroit: Was the idea for turning I-375 into a boulevard something the Kresge Foundation was interested in? Where did that idea come from?
Jackson: We’ve always seen I-375 as a significant issue as well as part of the city, in terms of its potential to repair past harms from the development of the freeway itself and how it erased Black Bottom and Paradise Valley.
When we were approached by the DEGC, we sought this (2014) planning study as a way to look seriously at how the removal of the freeway and transforming it into a boulevard could reconnect parts of downtown with the lower east side neighborhood and tackle the issue of recognizing the significance of Detroit’s history in an authentic and meaningful way.
We learned that an effort was renewed to take some findings from that planning study along with the fact that MDOT received the federal thriving communities grant. We saw this as another opportunity to bring technical expertise to the city through an investment in the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
The federal funding provided a real opportunity, from planning to implementation. As a result of MDOT receiving those dollars, there is a real opportunity to do something innovative in terms of redevelopment but also put significance around what this part of the city means to Black Detroiters.
BD: Why was the Downtown Detroit Partnership selected as the entity to convene conversations?
Jackson: DDP has a track record of engaging around large scale public space projects in the core of the city. That’s one of the reasons we provided technical support for them to pull together the best of the best.
There might be others along the way, but to get the planning and technical expertise and start to infuse it into the conversation as well actual discussions underway between MDOT and the city, DDP was our first investment.
This is MDOT’s project and (MDOT) is leading much of the public engagement. What DDP has done is bring together technical expertise to identify what possibilities could be for redevelopment in a way that is transformative and innovative.
What I mean by that is development possibilities that respect and honor the culture that Black Black Bottom and Paradise Valley represents.
BD: You mentioned authentic and meaningful recognition of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. What do you think that will look like? Can you share ideas or ways to think about that?
Jackson: We’ve invested in what we call the I-375 roundtable. It’s a group of stakeholders that have historical context and knowledge but also are engaged in the various processes that MDOT are leading. They’ve been working closely with DDP to bring those voices to the table.
It’s significant city-wide, not just pinpointed to those who live in the footprint. Particularly for Black Detroiters, for how this part of the city was a significant gateway. Given that, it was important to have a variety of stakeholders across the city and do this in a way that’s collaborative.
BD: What feedback have you been getting so far?
Jackson: What happens to the excess land? How do you redevelop in a way that’s equitable and inclusive? A lot of the elements that DDP has put together starts to answer that question. That’s why their work is so important. How you develop determines what the roadway needs to look like.
You can’t talk about this as just a road project. In a lot of ways it’s a development project.
The overarching message we hear as a funder into this work is, ‘how do we respectfully and authentically recognize the arts and cultural significance of what Black Bottom and Paradise Valley means to the city.’
MDOT and city officials held a virtual town hall on the I-375 Reconnecting Communities project in May. View presentation materials online or sign up for email updates from MDOT here.
In the Framework Plan Overview Equity section instead of just “…honors the history of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley” also include the remarkable people who over the years since the construction of Lafayette Park whose homes are still standing. Among those who come to my mind are Congressman George Crocket, Dr. Ethelene Crocket, Dr. Marjorie Peebles Meyers, Barry Gordie, Mort and Jackie Feigenson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves, Josephine Love, Dr. Charles H. Wright and Sarkis Sakasian.
This entire project is bull it does nothing for Blacks period it’s just an infusion of cash to White corporations. The families who were harmed get absolutely nothing not 1 red cent. This is just another scam to give Black Tax dollars of Detroit to white rich men and make them even richer. They use a Black face so you can swallow it easier. the community benfits agreements are a joke a few people get a few measly dollars while the corporations run off with hundreds of millions in their pockets and the people and their families who were harmed get nothing but lip service. This is another form of Instituionalized Racism to the 10th power. $400,000 to study what? this is another Slap in the face to Blacks in Detroit. Just sickening. How do we stop this funding like they stopped they funding for Black Farmers? we need that Lawyer to file a lawsuit immediately if not sooner like yesterday.