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Whitmer seeks federal funds to convert Interstate 375 to boulevard

Detroit Interstate
Posted at 6:24 PM, Nov 24, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-24 18:24:14-05

DETROIT (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is asking the Biden administration for funding to replace Interstate 375, a 1-mile depressed freeway in Detroit that was built by demolishing Black neighborhoods 60 years ago.

The state wants to convert the highway to a six-lane boulevard at street level.

The $1 trillion U.S. infrastructure law enacted last week includes $1 billion to reconnect communities that were divided to make room for freeways.

Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two predominantly African American neighborhoods, were razed in the late 1950s and early 1960s to build I-375.

Whitmer has invited Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to tour the area.