Delray MDOT Relocation

Over roughly the past decade, the Michigan Department of Transportation has researched the construction of a new international crossing between Windsor and Detroit. After investigating the feasibility of ten different sites, the Delray neighborhood was selected as the best possible location. After this decision was made to build the publicly owned bridge in Delray, residents and stakeholders from the neighborhood formed a community benefits coalition to negotiate and advocate on behalf of the residents. Bridging Communities has been working with the CBC board over the past year to develop a plan to construct new housing for residents who will be displaced by the construction of the bridge.

Working with partners from Peoples’ Community Services, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and a hired consultant, a plan has been developed to revive the remaining portion of Delray as a model Detroit neighborhood of the future. In the summer of 2009 BCI was awarded a $1.95 million HOME grant to subsidize the construction of 25 units. These newly constructed homes will be complemented by a complete neighborhood redesign that includes greenway development, improved streetscape infrastructure, and vegetative environmental buffers. Depending on the time line of the construction of the bridge, BCI anticipates constructing the homes in 2010-2011.