Buttigieg awards big fed grant to dismantle racist highway
A plan to dismantle a 1-mile-long depressed freeway that was built in Detroit by demolishing Black neighborhoods 60 years ago is a big winner of federal money
WASHINGTON (AP) — A long-delayed plan to dismantle Interstate 375, a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) depressed freeway in Detroit that was built by demolishing Black neighborhoods 60 years ago, was a big winner of federal money Thursday, the first Biden administration grant awarded to tear down a racially divisive roadway.
The $104.6 million is among $1.5 billion in transportation grants handed out to 26 projects nationwide thanks to increased funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
It allows Michigan to move forward on its $270 million effort to transform the stretch in Detroit into a street-level boulevard, reconnecting surrounding neighborhoods and adding amenities, such as bike lanes. Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two of the city's predominantly African American neighborhoods, were razed as part of the 1950s creation of an interstate highway system, displacing 100,000 Black residents and erecting a decades-long barrier between the downtown and communities to the east.
Hailed by city and state leaders as helping rectify a past racial wrong, the federal money represents a key first step that advocacy groups say will inspire dozens of citizen-led efforts underway in other cities to dismantle highways. Still, advocates cautioned that Michigan's plan to build a six-lane city boulevard risks simply replacing one busy roadway with another. Long-time Black residents, meanwhile, say they will be priced out of the city by new business development and shiny condo buildings that promise direct links to downtown.
