Question About Road Construction on Gratiot

[313WX]

I just found out that they're doing "road construction" on Gratiot between I-94 and 8 Mile.

Does anyone know if they're simply repaving the street, or [[heaven forbid) if they're putting a median down similar to Livernois?

Thanks in advance for the responses!

[animatedmartian]

It's just resurfacing, thankfully. Though I always though that stretch of Gratiot was pretty decent.

http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/S...essageId=15613

[313WX]

It's just resurfacing, thankfully. Though I always though that stretch of Gratiot was pretty decent.

http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/S...essageId=15613

That's good, they're not reducing the lanes or dividing the street.

Rush hour is going to be hell during this construction though. Gratiot is already pretty bad on a normal day.

Thanks again.

[Aerojoe]

Not sure how they call that resurfacing when all they are really doing is fixing little spots here and there not doing repaving the whole street.

[Hermod]

That's good, they're not reducing the lanes or dividing the street.

Rush hour is going to be hell during this construction though. Gratiot is already pretty bad on a normal day.

Thanks again.

You should have driven on it before I-94 was completed and 1.2 million still lived in the city. In 1961, I often waited four cycles to get through the Gratiot-Harper traffic light.

[313WX]

You should have driven on it before I-94 was completed and 1.2 million still lived in the city. In 1961, I often waited four cycles to get through the Gratiot-Harper traffic light.

Oh, I'm sure it was pure hell back then, especially with the commercial districts that were along Gratiot and their pedestrian traffic [[7 Mile/Gratiot, Chene/Gratiot, Harper/Gratiot, Van Dyke/Gratiot, 6 Mile/Gratiot, etc.).

[Hermod]

Oh, I'm sure it was pure hell back then, especially with the commercial districts that were along Gratiot and their pedestrian traffic [[7 Mile/Gratiot, Chene/Gratiot, Harper/Gratiot, Van Dyke/Gratiot, 6 Mile/Gratiot, etc.).

I used to drive from 7-mile to downtown on Gratiot. Our offices were in the triangular Water Board Building.

[IrishSpartan]

You should have driven on it before I-94 was completed and 1.2 million still lived in the city. In 1961, I often waited four cycles to get through the Gratiot-Harper traffic light.

Actually, in 1961 over 1.6 million still lived in the city plus many more suburbanites were employed in Detroit. Lots of traffic when trying to cross Gratiot at Gunston in those days during the mornings on the way to St.David or anywhere requiring crossing U.S. 25.

[IrishSpartan]

Oh, I'm sure it was pure hell back then, especially with the commercial districts that were along Gratiot and their pedestrian traffic [[7 Mile/Gratiot, Chene/Gratiot, Harper/Gratiot, Van Dyke/Gratiot, 6 Mile/Gratiot, etc.).

The traffic was such that driving south on Conner to Charlevoix was a better alternative in many cases and continue down to Chene. Gratiot was a real traffic jam until about the gas crunch in 1973 and then seemed to lighten up afterwards.

[stasu1213]

Oh, I'm sure it was pure hell back then, especially with the commercial districts that were along Gratiot and their pedestrian traffic [[7 Mile/Gratiot, Chene/Gratiot, Harper/Gratiot, Van Dyke/Gratiot, 6 Mile/Gratiot, etc.).

I would love to know what businesses lined Gratiot from downtown to 7 mile rd

[313WX]

I would love to know what businesses lined Gratiot from downtown to 7 mile rd

I did find some rare photos of 7 Mile and Gratiot from 1985 and 1987 in the below link:

http://ratkov.com/the_detroit_encyclopedia/s

[Hermod]

I would love to know what businesses lined Gratiot from downtown to 7 mile rd

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the stores along Gratiot two blocks north and south of 7-Mile were roughly equivalent to a moderate sized indoor mall.