DETROIT — The Detroit Downtown Development Authority invites members of the public to learn about and comment on six design alternatives for the I-375 freeway at a community forum from 2 p.m. to 8p.m. on June 12, at Detroit Eastern Market Shed 5, 2934 Russell St.
The I-375 freeway is one of the primary access points to Downtown Detroit, key entertainment venues, and historic neighhborhoods and East Riverfront. The Detroit Downtown Development Authority, Michigan Department of Transportation, and Detroit Riverfront Conservancy have collaborated to study design alternatives which might better suit current and expected development in the area.
At the forum, members of the public will visit a series of presentation stations, starting with a brief orientation that includes general information, the purpose and need for the project and details on how public input from the first meeting was used to develop and evaluate design alternatives. To accommodate the meeting’s open house format, the orientation will be repeated every two hours, at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. The public is invited to arrive at any time.
“At the first public meeting in February, over 150 people braved bitterly cold weather to give us their thoughts on what I-375 should look like in the future,” said Will Tamminga, project director at Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. “Since then we have used community input along with technical data to explore feasible alternatives and create the designs that will be on display at Eastern Market. We are very excited to hear more from the community about these options.”
At additional stations attendees will have an opportunity to explore five new designs and the existing configuration for I-375 from Gratiot Avenue to Atwater Street. Each display station will include renderings; plan view layouts; a summary of features; key findings related to traffic operations; and connectivity, economic impact, and other information used to generate the alternative.
Additional displays will feature similar information covering the two additional designs created for the secondary study area that includes the I-75/I-375 interchange, portions of Gratiot Avenue and the Gratiot Connector, and Jefferson Avenue between Washington Boulevard and Joseph Campau Street.
All stations will be staffed by members of the I-375 project team. Community members are encouraged to ask questions, engage in discussions, and if they wish, to leave their thoughts in writing at the project idea station. Attendees will be able to rate features of each of the alternatives, and provide additional written comments if desired.
To give people a chance to look at the design alternatives before the meeting, renderings and summary information about each one will be posted by noon Sunday on the project website I375Detroit.com.
Eastern Market is handicapped accessible with available parking surrounding the facility. Anyone requiring special accommodations, should contact Will Tamminga at 313-237-4608.
