Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page A18

18A WWW.FREEP.COM POINTSOFVIEW StephenHenderson BrianDickerson NancyKaffer DanAustin JewelGopwani JamesG.Hill MikeThompson FreePressExecutiveStaff StephenHenderson JewelGopwani RobertHuschka A.J.Hartley AmalieNash StefanieMurray DetroitFreePress AGannettcompany 615W.LafayetteBlvd. TheEditorialBoard JulieGreenTopping NancyAndrews PaulAnger NancyM.Laughlin heproposedremoval ofI-375isaboutinfra- Whendesigninginfra- soundexperiencemustbe employed.Oneessential reasonthatI-375existsasa recessedroadwayisacous- tic. Itprovidesfortranquility intheresidentialareasjust eastofthedowntowncentral fullyseparatesthecommer- cialareasandgreatcol- lectionofhistoricskyscrap- ersfromtherelativelynew residentialareastotheeast ofdowntown. Itisamasterpieceofur- bandesignandplanning, providingrapidaccessto downtown.Anditwasde- changestoI-375. GettingridofI-375would bringabsolutelynoimprove- menttothewalkabilitywe havenow.Itwouldbeniceif thecurrentbridgeswere makeitpossibleforanyone notbeneficialatall.

Mixingtrafficwithpedes- trianwalkwaysisfarmore dangerous.Alight-cablestay footbridgerunningacross fromNicolettoClinton Streetcouldbeanicecon- nectiontoboththetheater andtothestadiums. WithFordFieldandCo- mericaParkandapossible newRedWingsarenatothe immediatenorthofdown- demandswillhavebeen IfI-375wereeliminated, theapartmentbuildingsand complexesaroundLafayette Parkwouldsuffereven morebecausetheyliedirect- lyalongtheserviceroad. cornerofLafayetteand studentsandsurfacetraffic arealethalmix. ThebestthingforLa- fayetteParkandthead- jacentcommunitiesand schoolsisthatthecitynot disruptordestroytheexist- insteadquicklyaddressthe flowoftrafficfromI-75into thenorthendoftheCentral BusinessDistrict. LewisM(Bill)Dickensisanarchitect wholivesinLafayettePark.

greatlyaltered.Fartoo manyvehiclesarenowbeing forceddownI-375toexiton fersontoreversebacknorth whenthemagnetsforthe trafficareactuallynowon thenorthendofthedown- townarea.Theproblemlies there. I-75hasahighlyconstric- tivekinkasitturnsfrom essentiallyaneast-westori- entationtoanorth-south direction.Nowthatthe Brewster-Douglasshousing projectisbeingdemolished, theopportunityarisesto reworkI-75sothatitiswid- erandcanaccommodatethe trafficflowsmoothlyand alsoprovidespacetoinsert exitrampsintothenorthend crowd-drawingsportsven- uesexist. meansofingressandegress iscrcuialandrecognizedin thecurrentdesign. Itbeautifullyincorpo- ratescleverdesignfeatures knowntoattenuatetheex- cessivesoundsofhighways. Thisisaccomplishedwith theangledembankments coveredwithgrassandthe beautifulcrabappletrees placedinclustersalongthe way.Grasshaslongbeen haveoneofthequietestresi- dentialspotsinthecity.

Thereisnoquestionthat theplantingscouldbemore lushwithadeftlandscape design.Therecessedcut completesthebracketingof ourareawiththeDequindre beexpandeduponwithany signedtoproviderelieffrom urbantrafficnoisepollution fortheresidences.Detroit’s mosteffectivearchitect- whocreatedtheMedical exactlywhathewascre- brilliant.Fewcitiesprovide suchrapidaccesswithease toitscore.Thecurrentde- signiscrucialfortheDe- troit-WindsorTunnel. Thesymmetricdesignof thehighwaysintoDetroit toJeffersonfromboththe eastandthewest.Itcontains turehigher-densitydevel- opmentintheCentralBusi- nessDistrict.Thisiskeyto visualbrand.Havingtwo RemovingI-375anurbanplanningaccidentwaitingtohappen construction. therewereadozendifferent black-ownedhospitals(in admityouintothemajor hospitalsifyouwereAfrican- tyinitsheydaywasabsolute- lyfantastic.Itwasbetterthan HistorianJoeT.Dardenof MichiganStateUniversity, co-authorofthenewbook ConflictsandEffortsto saidtheDetroitexperience needstoberememberedfor whatwaslosttourbanrenew- alandexpresswaysinthe thatintoperspectiveandsay NoonesuggeststhatBlack Bottomcouldberebuiltasit wasshouldI-375beremoved. outthefreewaycontendthat arestoredsurfacestreet wouldmakethesurrounding neighborhoodsfriendlierto ingEasternMarketandLa- fayetteParkwithdowntown. Removingthefreewayalso couldallowparksandnew commercialdevelopmentto riseonthereclaimedsurface area.

Thebenefitsofremoving freewaysfromtheheartsof citiesisathemeofgrowing popularityinurbanplanning. DuringtherecentBruner LoebForumonurbandesign heldattheUniversityofDe- presswayswasakeyfocus, withadvocatescitingcase Milwaukeeandothercities. inthecityisthewrongthing. PeterJ.Parksaid.“Whenyou takefreewaysoutofcities, Builtin1964atacostof freewayrunsforslightly trafficcountsregistering andLafayette. Detroitishardlyalonein thinkingofremovingafree- way.Indeed,removingfree- waysfromurbandowntowns ranksamongthehottest trendsinurbanplanning today.

rippedoutpartoftheirfree- withparksorsurfaceroads. Clevelandandothercities suchasTorontoandWashing- jectsafteropponentswarned thattheywoulddoirrepara- bleharmtourbanneigh- borhoods. NoteveryoneinDetroit remembersthestoryofthe urbanrenewaleffortsofthe youngurbanplannerfrom Chicagowhenhejoinedthe departmentin1953.Hehad beenrecruitedbylegendary DetroitplannerCharles workhelpingplanboththe LafayetteParkresidential districtandtheredevelop- mentofCorktownonthewest sideasalightindustrialpark. betterthanthingsreally week.BoththeAfrican-Amer- icanBlackBottomdistrict andthewhiteCorktownarea werefilledwithdilapidated woodenbuildingsdatingto the1800s.Fires,crimeand skid-rowpovertysurrounded downtown. WhatDetroitersnowcall Corktownisjustaremnantof amuchlargerareamostly wipedoutbyurbanrenewal, makewayforblockafter blockofbusinessesandan industrialparkjustwestof downtown.

Theneighborhoodsde- stroyedinCorktownand BlackBottomwereamong weworkedontheLafayette hollowedoutthatwerestillin wasobsolete.Thebuildings Corktownalleyduringthe acrossahugepileofgarbage witharatscamperingacross elderlywomansatather horrible.Shewaslivingina Thedevelopmentsthat replacedBlackBottomand muchofCorktownwere upscaleLafayetteParkdis- oftherebuilttobecleanand otherindustrialapplications builtonthenear-westsideof downtown. Butthosegoodintentions meantlittletothefamilies displacedforfreewaysand said. gutsoutofthat(BlackBot- everybodyhadtomoveout.It erbeenthesameagain.Kind oflikeablackdiaspora.We Thedestructionofneigh- borhoodsmaybestbeun- derstoodfromanationalper- eningprojectsinplanningfor ingMidtowndistrictandI-75 throughseveralmilesofOak- landCounty. PlannersattheSoutheast MichiganCouncilofGovern- mentshaveapprovedthe projectsoverfiercecommu- nityopposition.Theargument infavoroftheprojectsre- mainsthesameasitwas50 yearsago--theneedtomove hugevolumesoftraffic throughthebottlenecksofan urbanlandscape. StateRep.JimTownsend, ingtokillthefreewayexpan- trappedintimewarpwhere lessonsaboutthedownsideof lunchesandcity-destroying freewaywideninghavenot Hustolessoundswistful todayrememberingatthe distanceofhalfacentury whatwasviewedasagreat revitalizationeffort.

weweredoinggood.Wewere takingblightawayandgiving rebuildingthecity. canalwaysdosomethings ContactJohnGallagher: spective.ComingoutofWorld zationofindustrywasledby nationhadatasteforhuge publicinfrastructureprojects amidanoptimismthatpover- tyandblightcouldbeended forever.Theconstructionof I-75andI-375inDetroitmust beseenagainstthebackdrop oftheEisenhower-eraeffort freewaysthroughcities. becausethefederalgovern- Norhavecitiesnecessarily learnedthatneighborhoods needtobeprotectedagainst ambitiousinfrastructure plans.Ininwhatmaybethe biggesthistoricalironyofall, stateandfederalhighway buildersarenowproposingto I-375: Detroit lostmuchto gainfreeway downtown FROMPAGE17A KIMBERLYP.MITCHELL/DETROITFREEPRESS the1960sthattriedtoreplaceblackneighborhoodsandtheslums withprosperity. DetroitRiver DETROITFREEPRESS 375 DETAIL 3 Renaissance Center BlueCross BlueShield campus Ford Field 75.