• 1st section of estimated $200-million, 10-year project begins in Midwest neighborhood, helping unlock Detroit’s economy during the recovery
• Greenway will link neighborhoods across the city to each other, to the internationally acclaimed Riverwalk, Gordie Howe International Bridge, and the region by connecting to Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.

Monday, the City of Detroit took the first major step to create a world-class, 27.5-mile-long loop of publicly accessible space that will connect Detroiters and their neighborhoods, opening new opportunities for recreation and economic activity as the city recovers from the impacts of the pandemic.

Mayor Duggan was joined today by members of Joe Louis’ family, local, state, and federal elected officials and members of the community as work began on the first phase of the greenway, which will reactivate a nearly three-mile stretch of abandoned railroad easement in the Midwest neighborhood. When completed later this year, it will be a new place for residents to walk, run or ride a bike safely as the greenway expands to new areas.

When completed in the next 10 years, the Joe Louis Greenway, named after the legendary Detroit boxing legend, will transform the nature of recreational access in Detroit for generations to come, according to Mayor Mike Duggan.

“The Joe Louis Greenway is about two things: Honoring one of our city’s greatest and most loved citizens and creating opportunity for Detroiters,” said Mayor Duggan. “Not too long from now, residents living right here near Joy Road and Greenlawn will have a safe and beautiful recreational trail that will connect them to our beautiful riverfront and to other great neighborhoods and commercial corridors across our city.”

“Putting this new plan in motion puts Joe Louis’s fighting spirit back on the map of Detroit,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, principal with Bloomberg Associates, who works with mayors on transformative transportation projects, including Mayor Duggan. “The road to a stronger, more equitable city starts by reconnecting people, local businesses, schools, and jobs with each other-and with a safe and active new way to get there.”

“My father believed that the working man was the hero-and he loved Detroit,” said Joe Louis Barrow II.

“The level of pride for African Americans in the accomplishments of our dad, Joe Louis, is immeasurable. We realize God’s plan for this grandson of slaves was not just to become the greatest heavyweight champion of all times, but to change the hearts of Americans of all races. Due to the steadfast commitment of Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit City Council, the Joe Louis Greenway will stand as a monument to the legacy of the iconic life of a true American Hero, Joe Louis, we are eternally grateful.” said The Joe Louis Family.

The beginning of the $211.8 million project is the realization of a decades-long dream to bring active open space within reach of more Detroit residents.  It is also the culmination of a years-long community planning process and dozens of meetings engaging and bringing communities to the table. An estimated 46,000 Detroiters do not live within a 10-minute walk of a park, and a quarter of all residents do not have reliable access to a vehicle. The Joe Louis Greenway will bring recreational space accessible within a ten-minute walk of 10 percent of all city residents, presenting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to empower and unify neighborhoods.

Phase One Details

The first phase will transform 2.73 miles of a former Conrail railway line from Warren Avenue to Fullerton Avenue into a path for walkers and runners or for people riding bikes and with safe street crossings and connections to surrounding neighborhoods. Phase one will be paid for through $22M in bond funds, 2.5M from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation for design and construction plans, and 4.5M from MDOT and MDNR for the Conrail acquisition. A strategy is underway to govern and manage continuing phases of the greenway and to raise funding from philanthropic organizations, donors, and from regional, state, and federal sources, with details planned to be announced later this summer.

Phase One will include purchasing an existing scrap yard immediately north of Joy and converting it into a new green space for the trail.

“One of the most powerful aspects of the Joe Louis Greenway is how it will take existing vacant and blighted land and turn them into areas of beauty and recreation,” said Group Executive for Services and Infrastructure, Brad Dick.

“Throughout this process, we have been very satisfied with the community engagement, said Sheri Burton, president, Midwest Civic Council of Block Clubs. “We are excited to continue with the advisory council and ensure sustained community support for this project.”

Closing the loop

When completed, the Joe Louis Greenway will connect with more than six miles of existing greenway along the Riverfront and along the Dequindre Cut. An additional 4.6 miles of connecting greenway are under development by a partnership of municipal and private groups, including the Southwest Greenway by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. The goal is to complete the 27.5-mile loop by the end of 2030. The Community Foundation for South East Michigan has agreed to hold an endowment for the future maintenance and management of the Greenway, opening the door new fundraising efforts.

Unlike Greenway and rails-to-trails projects elsewhere in the nation, about 45 percent of the land for the Joe Louis Greenway is owned by the City of Detroit, decreasing the costs and time needed to acquire the land. The ownership also increases the voice that residents and their representatives have in the design of the project, helping it reflect local needs.

Opportunities for Detroiters

The contracting documents have also been drafted to prioritize employment for local residents, supporting the 50,000 businesses citywide owned by entrepreneurs of color, and creating employment opportunities for the Greenway itself for local residents.

Greenway and rails-to-trails projects in other cities have created far-reaching economic benefits, increasing foot traffic in neighborhoods and sales in local businesses, and encouraging livability and investment in adjacent areas. The City is committed to ensuring that the resulting development around the Greenway promotes equity, prevents displacement, and creates economic opportunity for Detroit communities.

The Joe Louis Greenway is following city processes to hire Detroit-based contractors and contractors that hire a majority of Detroit residents. Moving forward the City has been working closely with its partners at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation to exceed those requirements.

For more information, and to view the Joe Louis Greenway Framework Plan, visit joelouisgreenway.com. For additional photos, click here https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVHh1Uq 

The Detroit Greenways CoalitionAdvocating for better bicycling and trails since 2007

The 27.5 mile Joe Louis Greenway is a planned biking and walking trail that extends from the Detroit Riverfront to Highland Park, Dearborn, and Hamtramck. It also includes connectors along Livernois and McNichols. The Joe Louis Greenway will include the Dequindre Cut and portions of the Detroit RiverWalk, as well as portions of the planned Iron Belle Trail and Southwest Greenway.

When completed, it will provide a place for people of all abilities to safely walk, bike, and run while connecting neighborhoods, parks, schools, jobs, historic sites, commercial corridors and public transit.

This greenway concept began with the Friends of the Inner Circle Greenway in 2007 and became part of the Detroit Greenways Coalition Network Vision in 2009. Using other existing trails and plans, the Coalition modified the routing, advocated for its development, and worked closely with the city of Detroit. In 2017, Mayor Mike Duggan announced plans to rename the Inner Circle Greenway after legendary boxer and Detroiter, Joe Louis.

The City of Detroit is acquiring 7.5 miles of abandoned Conrail railroad property using grants from Michigan’s Natural Resources Trust Fund and MDOT. This railroad property, formerly the Detroit Terminal Railroad will become the northern and western part of the Joe Louis Greenway loop. For those who have experienced the Dequindre Cut it’s hard not to be super excited about 7.5 more miles of former railroad property becoming a non-motorized greenway.

In 2017, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation awarded $2 million to the City of Detroit to develop a framework plan and construction drawings for the project. In October of 2018 the city sought proposals to produce the framework plan. The City of Detroit announced in March of 2019 that the SmithGroup team was selected for the project. An advisory council has also been created, comprised of community members from each Detroit City Council Districts impacted by the route.

What’s a Framework Plan?

The Framework Plan is way of gathering community input and evaluating existing conditions before creating any final designs. It will:

• Consider at existing land uses in the half-mile corridor on either side of the Greenway.
• Include recommendations for land use, zoning, wayfinding and green infrastructure such as natural landscaping and effective stormwater management techniques.
• Determine the trail’s alignment, access points, connections to nearby destinations, trails, public transit, and the new Gordie Howe International Bridge.
• Identify the best pedestrian and bicycle design practices that make up a signature greenway.
• Determine a phasing and implementation plan.

Community input will be an important part of this framework planning process. The greenway must reflect the needs and desires of the local communities through which is passes. Certainly many communities have issues and priorities that do not include a new trail, e.g. safety, blight, dumping, empty storefronts. This project may be an opportunity to get those issues addressed as well. This project is much more than just a trail. It’s an opportunity to bring additional investment and attention to the neighborhoods.

When will it get built?

The city of Detroit will finalize the design once the framework planning is complete sometime in 2020. The Detroit Strategic Plan for Transportation sets the following benchmarks to be completed by 2022:

• Construct the next phase of the Joe Louis Greenway
• Implement on-street sections of the Joe Louis Greenway through Road Bond Complete Streets projects

Mayor Duggan has committed $20 million to build the first phase of the greenway. The rest of the required funding has not yet been identified, but there are many other potential philanthropic, state, and federal grants available. For instance, the Wilson Foundation has pledged $40 million in funding for regional trail construction, which includes the Joe Louis Greenway.