Quote Originally Posted by DTWflyer View Post
Oh I know it decimated neighborhoods, it wiped out the far southeast corner of Royal Oak, east of Campbell and south of Lincoln. At least running it along 10 mile instead of Farnum didn't put another gash through there.
I remember having to drive to work along Woodward between 8 & 12 Mile during the mid 80s when the final middle piece was being constructed. I remember huge swaths of neighborhoods being literally dug up and carried out to make room for the freeway never to return again. Parts of Pleasant Ridge that used to come right up along the west side of Woodward either disappeared or were moved far back from the freeway. Woodward was never the same again either. When the traffic was being rerouted onto what is now the N/S service drives, so to speak, of Woodward, I never visualized that these "temporary" lanes would turn into permanent ones. I always envisioned Woodward would stay above as an 8 lane boulevard/bridge with the freeway below similarly as it went over 8 Mile at that time.

That middle section construction seemed to take forever too. It was probably about 5 yrs in total. Having to drive it everyday was brutal.