Many local neighborhoods are experiencing the sounds and sights of new construction, but only one in particular will soon become a gateway for international travel.
As the city prepares to add another bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor into Southwest Detroit, the community will experience significant changes. Some say it’s the start of beneficial transformation. Others push to ensure that certain provisions are met before construction begins.
Having the Gordie Howe International Bridge accommodate travelers on both northbound and southbound I-75 could bring relief, says Christine Bell, executive director of Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, but she is more concerned with the welfare of residents and how they will be impacted by the project.
“Obviously, we do believe there will be benefits, but we are also concerned about the potential environmental issues that will exist with additional truck traffic,” says Bell, “and then just quality of life issues.”
Changes recently announced by Mayor Mike Duggan will dramatically impact Delray and Southwest Detroit residents. The $48 million generated from a sale of city assets will support neighborhood improvement, job training, air and health monitoring and funding to the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department and Public Lighting Authority to support the bridge project. The majority of those dollars – $33 million – will help neighborhood revitalization and offer those who want to move into other homes the chance to relocate or have their houses retrofitted with upgrades.
Bell notes that a Michigan Department of Transportation investment in the project bought just enough space to expand the service drive and ease truck traffic. This will be a benefit, she says, but she and other residents would like to see greenery, a sound-barrier wall, landscaping and sidewalks.
“Based on our community meetings with the residents, I think we have a lot to work out, in terms of buyouts,” she adds. “I think residents on our side of I-75 really have a lot of questions about how the buyouts are going to affect them.”
Kathy Wendler, president of Southwest Detroit Business Association, says air quality in the area is important to the businesses and economic viability of Southwest Detroit and she is concerned about the environmental impact of an increase of truck traffic. About $2.4 million has been earmarked to monitor air in the community for the next 10 years.
“What we’re hoping is that before construction, during construction and after construction air testing will give us a handle on what the current quality is … and how the air quality is impacted once the bridge is open,” says Wendler.
Despite the forthcoming community benefits announced by the mayor, some residents have already begun moving away. Simone Sagovac, a member of the Delray Community Advisory Group, says that could very well turn current neighborhoods into more of an industrial district than a residential one because of environmental concerns that have been ongoing.
About $2.4 million has been earmarked to monitor air in the community for the next 10 years.
“We’ve seen the writing on the walls for years in the way of residents already moving out because of these conditions,” says Sagovac. “People have had the opportunity to do so, but also recognize what is to come. When the bridge does come there very likely is going to be an increase in trucking-related industry around that area. When you’ve got a trucking-related industry, the trucks drive all over the streets in our community so Southwest Detroit has a particular burden of lots of truck traffic. But, for Southwest Detroit, it’s likely going to be a series of different developments for the bridge that will continue.”
Southwest Detroiters greet bridge agreement with guarded optimism added by Debanina Seaton on
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