Michigan DOT Pauses Work on Detroit’s $500M Freeway Corridor Makeover

Rising costs—now estimated at topping $500 million—and local opposition to the planned design have led the Michigan Dept. of Transportation to pause a project to convert Detroit’s downtown I-375 freeway into a grade-level boulevard.

Last year, MDOT selected Shelby Township, Mich.-based Dan’s Excavating, Inc., for the progressive design-build contract, with pre-construction work tentatively scheduled to begin later this year. Initially estimated to cost $300 million, the project was awarded a $104.6-million federal grant in 2022, with the remaining funding expected to come from state and local sources.

The planned conversion, called the I-375 Reconnecting Communities Project, aims to address the mile-long freeway’s “outdated interchange design and deteriorated bridges and roadways to meet existing and future transportation needs,” according to MDOT. The addition of signalized intersections and other pedestrian-oriented amenities is planned to improve connectivity and revitalize the city’s Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods, which were disrupted by the freeway’s construction in the early 1960s. The project would also include reconfiguration of the associated I-75 interchange.

Since last year, inflationary pressures on labor and materials have pushed the estimated total cost to just over $500 billion, according to MDOT.

The project’s design, which MDOT says has gradually evolved over the past decade, has also come under fire from opponents claiming the agency’s public engagement efforts were insufficient in shaping a plan representative of what the community wants and needs, nor has it fully addressed lingering concerns such as the safety of pedestrian crossings, proposed uses for new spaces created by the conversion and measures to mitigate disruptive construction impacts on adjacent businesses.

In a 2024 letter to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the ReThink I-375 Community Coalition, a citizens opposition group, contended that MDOT’s proposal “would actively disconnect our community, and threaten decades of our neighborhood’s stability.”

An analysis of the engineering work done to-date, sponsored by the non-profit Detroit Downtown Development Partnership and issued in November 2024, offered an alternative strategy for I-375, slimming MDOT’s proposed nine-lane boulevard to no more than six lanes. Other facets of the group’s plan called for shrinking the footprint of the reconfigured I-75 interchange and using the anticipated 30 acres of new land to be created by the project for affordable housing or a community-focused amenities.

In a statement, a ReThink I-375 spokesperson called the Aug. 11 announcement of a project pause “a healthy acknowledgement by MDOT … that the I-375 Reconnecting Communities project is more than a boulevard project. While roads are part of the puzzle, this project needs to follow from a vision that respects the complexity of the land use, transportation, urban design, local business, and restorative justice issues at play in the I-375 corridor.”

MDOT spokesperson Jocelyn Garza said in a statement that while pausing the I-375 project provides an opportunity for the agency to continue reviewing design alternatives, the decision was not taken lightly.

“Significant momentum has been gained in recent years as we continued working through public engagement to ensure the selected design would meet the needs of all users,” she said. “It’s difficult to reach a consensus with all parties when developing a project of this magnitude.”

Garza admitted that based on recent feedback, “we’re not confident we’ve landed on the most ideal design.” Still, she added, “the $37 million investment to date has yielded valuable information we’ll continue to use as we work toward a final design.”

Of immediate concern, Garza said, are the existing corridor’s poor pavement and bridge conditions, with at least four structure locations in need of an action plan.

“Next steps and continued opportunities for public engagement will be announced in advance of their start,” she said.

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