Greektown to receive $20M for street redesign in new state budget

**ShadowSoarer** · June-30-23, 06:45 AM

I believe there was some elaborate Greektown proposal a few years back but haven't really heard anything since then.

According to WXYZ Detroit looks like Greektown is recieving $20 million grant for revamping Monroe street and should hopefully be done around this time next year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHm7MCmx4nw

**ShadowSoarer** · June-30-23, 06:48 AM

Found an article with additional projects that are being funded:

https://detroit.urbanize.city/post/major-detroit-developments-nab-funding-new-state-budget

**stasu1213** · June-30-23, 07:15 AM

Placing a yellow turning lane on Mack between Gratiot to StJean was a ridiculous idea and bad planning. Motorists have to drive behind slow trucks, busses, and the occasional school bus and not legally able to pass on the left side. Mack is not wide enough to have a turning medium such as the more larger avenues have

**1953** · June-30-23, 09:07 AM

Monroe in Greektown seems to be a pretty functional street, so I'm not sure why we as a state are spending so much money on its redesign. I can think of a great number of higher priority street redevelopment projects than Monroe.

1953

**401don** · June-30-23, 09:33 AM

Making Monroe a one lane one way street is a pretty significant change. Not sure they need to have it open to traffic at all if that's the decision.

**K-slice** · June-30-23, 09:48 AM

Very happy to see that the redesign covers the entire length of Monroe! I was worried, due to the car loving populace, this would be confined to just the main block of Greektown.

Hopefully this will spur some development all the way though the district, however that would require the casino to want people walking on Monroe street and they have shown 0 interest in that regard.

**Satiricalivory** · June-30-23, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by 1953

Monroe in Greektown seems to be a pretty functional street, so I'm not sure why we as a state are spending so much money on its redesign. I can think of a great number of higher priority street redevelopment projects than Monroe.

1953

Have you been to Greektown? Sidewalks on Monroe are stupidly small. The street is always clogged with cars. It's far from functional.

**Henry Whalley** · June-30-23, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

Have you been to Greektown?

Greektown is sadly defunct. Why throw good money after bad? Let the casino pay for so-called improvements.

**stasu1213** · July-01-23, 01:15 PM

Why not just permanently close Monroe from Randolph to I375 and make Monroe a pedestrian mall

**1953** · July-01-23, 01:35 PM

I think the density and vitality - the people + the cars - is what makes it lively. Close it off and some of that's lost. As a 16 year old kid, I remember driving through the area and wanting to come back and explore it. That experience is lost if I can't drive down Monroe.

1953

**Gistok** · July-01-23, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by 1953

I think the density and vitality - the people + the cars - is what makes it lively. Close it off and some of that's lost. As a 16 year old kid, I remember driving through the area and wanting to come back and explore it. That experience is lost if I can't drive down Monroe.

1953

I'm not sure having 80% of the street width devoted to cars is the kind of density downtowns should be about?

However... I'm also not sure closing the street to just pedestrian traffic is the solution either. I have to remember how the tinker toys and other street art on Washington Blvd. killed a lot of businesses on that street.

If they are going to spend $20 million on that stretch of Monroe, it will likely be more than just redoing roadway/sidewalks... it will be something more radical. I just hope that whatever they plan actually works, and isn't something that gets ripped out in 20 years, like they did on Washington Blvd.

**ABetterDetroit** · July-01-23, 02:04 PM

Looking forward to more details. Particular seasonal days or event closing Monroe to traffic absolutely but pretending that Detroit is San Diego doesn’t work that well for many days of the year.

**401don** · July-01-23, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Why not just permanently close Monroe from Randolph to I375 and make Monroe a pedestrian mall

I would just close it from Randolph to Beaubien. You need access for the hotel, Blue Cross and the church. There's really nothing east of Beaubien anyway. You could close it just in the evenings and weekends. Still doesn't solve the problems of a dying area we discussed on the other thread though.

**royce** · July-03-23, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Placing a yellow turning lane on Mack between Gratiot to StJean was a ridiculous idea and bad planning. Motorists have to drive behind slow trucks, busses, and the occasional school bus and not legally able to pass on the left side. Mack is not wide enough to have a turning medium such as the more larger avenues have

I 199% agree, stasu1213. Dumb, dumb, idea. Mack is not that busy of a street to need a left turn lane. And now with only one lane in each direction, it takes forever to get from point A to point B along that stretch when you have slower traffic. It would have been better to incorporate at least one bike lane, if not two, instead of the left-turn lane. I still contend that most left-turn lanes aren't needed, especially on streets that are 4-6 lanes wide. McNichols and Seven Mile are 4-6 lanes wide and I have never seen a car accident involving people making left turns. Sometimes it's frustrating when someone decides to turn at the last minute and you end up stuck behind them before they turn, but never have I seen an accident happen as a result. These left turn lanes are designed to reduce accidents while turning left, but to me, they just create "wasted space."

BTW, stasu1213, I assume you brought this up because you don't like the plan for redesigning Monroe Street and think this is another example of "bad" planning like the "bad" planning that went into putting a left-turn lane on Mack, right?