I-375 Reconnecting Communities Project Needs New Leadership & Better Ideas

Voice your Support and Give Your Opinion on I-375 Guiding Principles

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has plans to reconfigure the I-75/I-375 interchange and make I-375 a surface freeway. They have received federal approval to do so. You can find all of the information regarding the project, the environmental assessment and MDOT’s plans here. 

Many residents, small business owners, and community organizations have concerns about this project that MDOT has not addressed. We are organizing as the ReThink I-375 Coalition. You can learn more about our concerns below.

In May 2024, hundreds of residents, business owners and community organizations shared their concerns in an open letter to Governor Whitmer and Mayor Duggan. Since that time, well over 500 people have signed this open letter calling for changes to the project. These concerned citizens have organized as the ReThink I-375 Community Coalition.

In June 2024, the coalition shared 11 specific requests with MDOT for ways to improve the project. Coalition leadership has met with MDOT and the City of Detroit to review these requests.

If you want to learn more about the community effort, please share your contact information here. You will be added to our mailing list where project updates and upcoming community meetings are shared. 

Why should you be concerned about I-375? 

MDOT has done nothing to contact and proactively involve individuals who have a connection to Black Bottom.

This project is an example of “social justice washing” and that’s an insult in Detroit. Doubly so, because the Black Bottom community that used to reside here was destroyed by careless freeway planning in the 1950s, and the current plans will repeat and exacerbate those mistakes. This land has been valued by all its human inhabitants, but it also has a history of eliciting conflicts over its use. It is our responsibility to do better now.

MDOT’s proposal is contrary to the City of Detroit’s Streets for People Plan. The results will not be safe or vibrant.

MDOT’s proposed boulevard will not be “beautiful, economically vibrant, comfortable, and safe for all Detroiters regardless of their age, ability, or how they choose to get around.” Instead, over 150 people at a recent town hall held by State Senator Stephanie Chang reported how they see the plans resulting in an uglier, less safe, less economically viable, less inclusive city fabric — one that would even delay medical services in an area with a large senior population, even in life-threatening emergencies.

MDOT has failed to reflect community input and concern. They have lost the community’s trust.

They substantially changed the project — which had been put on hold by Governor Whitmer — and then rushed approval of the new project during the height of COVID when citizens could not duly participate in the democratic process. Furthermore, MDOT has repeatedly asked for feedback at public meetings and through the LAC process but has failed to show how serious feedback and concerns are being integrated.

MDOT’s plan will hurt local businesses as bad or worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will mean lost tax income for the city, lost profits, and lost jobs. It’s insulting that MDOT has waited this long in the process to have a serious discussion about mitigating construction impacts and still has not addressed the concerns of local businesses large and small. 

RESOURCES FOR NEIGHBORS

Current plans for I-375 are not good enough for Detroiters. Rebuilding I-375 as a “boulevard” that is up to six lanes wide is estimated to cost at least $300M and will take years to complete.

We shouldn’t spend that money on the wrong idea. We shouldn’t rush forward until the plan is a great one. We shouldn’t build a highway by another name.

Links below provide views on the project. These should be reviewed alongside MDOT’s official project page (including Boulevard Navigation Maps, I-375 Navigation Videos, MDOT's Environmental Assessment).

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