Quote:
Originally Posted by
DetroitPlanner
I think it is ironic when I hear all of you complain about what the people who live around there want as opposed to what you have been spoon-fed by the activists who really have an ulterior motive.
You complain MDOT never listens and has their heads up their butts then you complain about what those in the neighborhood want. Can't have it both ways.
This is absolutely true, and I'm sure that people in Lafayette Park will stop being obstreperous about a huge road project on their doorstep as soon as the Corktown people stop losing their minds over the idea of a Target [[or whatever big mainstream retail) on the Tiger Stadium site. Or Palmer Park people about a racetrack at the state fair grounds.
For the out-of-towners who may not have seen the Parsons Brinkerhoff presentation, the gist from MDOT was basically this: "Well, here are these cool freeway replacement projects in other cities. But sorry, we're not able to do decking [[covering even 1/2 a mile of freeway), roundabouts, or coaxial public transit because they [[a) cost too much money; [[b) are too difficult to move massive traffic through; or [[c) are at the mercy of the region's lack of a coordinated transit plan [[this was on the display boards). Oh, and by the way, the option that yields the most redevelopable land just has a 9-acre grassy ditch in the middle of it for the conceivable future [[in essence, a Dequindre Cut to nowhere) - and we have no idea why we are creating more developable land in the face of city planning that is designed to control supply. But hey, we can give you more 50% more paving than you already have and [[presumably) more light polution from lighting 12-14 lanes of surface streets."
So you take that to a group of high-income, highly educated residents [[some of whom were here for Black Bottom and the original LP disruption) and what do you realistically think the answer will be? Unconditional love? If you don't feel yourself disconnected from downtown, or do and like it, then the idea of "enhanced non-motorized connectivity" essentially sounds like it is designed to increase foot traffic into your neighborhood. And if you believe that I-375 is bad, the best case is that you'll just see it as a huge construction nightmare. And more realistically, that this is an MDOT sham that's not really any type of meaningful change.
If you think the local residents' reaction is negative, you're not seeing the comments that you can be sure will come from GM, BCBS,* Greektown Casino, the stadiums, and Gilbert in general. They don't have an interest in barriers; they want high-speed access.
*I got a kick out of the comment that BCBS might want more land. If they felt constrained by space, they could build on the surface lot that just replaced their old garage. Or, since the medical records building that takes up a huge amount of space opposite Assumption Cathedral is becoming obsolete, they could build there.
That said, the support is more uniform among locals for fixing the configuration of the Gratiot Connector, which is inarguably a bigger connectivity problem than I-375. There is a separate set of alternatives north of Gratiot that has been given virtually no media play - but would either create a new Brush Street exit for I-75 [[corresponding to I-375 Options 1-3) or surface the road there [[corresponding to I-375 Options 4-6).
At the end of the day, it seems unlikely that any long-term stakeholder [[people who live, work or both in the vicinity) is going to sign off on what has been presented - which to Ghettopalmetto's question means that the only people who are really going for it are people who have some issue with the idea of the status quo, in other words, activists. Or top-down bureaucrats at MDOT. What a match made in heaven!
HB