DETROIT (WWJ) – Getting around Detroit is about to become a whole lot smoother for drivers across the city, as the 2023 road construction season has officially begun, with the city pouring millions of dollars into road and sidewalk improvements.
City officials announced Thursday plans to complete $95 million worth of work, including repaving streets and fixing damaged sidewalk squares.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) will repave 81 miles of major and residential roads, including 41 miles of local residential streets and 40 miles of “major roads,” including portions of W. Vernor, Harper, McNichols, Meyers, Conant, and 7 Mile Road.
“There will be 41 miles of streets in front of people’s houses where there will not be potholes, where there will not be pavement distresses. It should be a lot easier on the vehicles as you get out of your houses to move up and down, so that improves the quality of life,” DPW Deputy Director Dayo Akinyemi told WWJ.
The DPW will also start a new streetscape project along Dexter and complete three new streetscapes along key commercial corridors on East Warren, West Warren, and Rosa Parks Boulevard, officials said.
In addition to the repaved roads, officials plan to replace 70,000 damaged or missing sections of sidewalks, totaling about 80 miles.
Priority will be given to sidewalks near schools, churches and parks, as well as sidewalks identified and requested by registered neighborhood block clubs, senior citizens and disabled residents, officials said. There will also be a focus on sidewalks adjacent to repaving projects and along “city jurisdiction commercial corridors where cleanup and beautification are planned for existing backlog of requests from prior years.”
The city is also continuing its commitment to cracking down on speeding in neighborhoods, slated to install more speed humps on residential roads. This year’s work to add more speed humps will bring cumulative totals to over 10,000 speed humps installed since the program began in 2018.
“Since its inception, this program has been extremely effective in making our streets safer for pedestrians and vehicle operators,” officials said.
More information on this year’s repaving, sidewalk, speed hump and streetscape projects can be found on the Detroit DPW website.
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