Streetscaping on McNichols and four other roads to begin this spring

Just as construction wraps up on several streetscaping projects in Detroit, more are expected to begin later this year.

The city of Detroit announced that, pending city council approval, the next round of infrastructure upgrades on streets across Detroit will begin with McNichols Road from Livernois to Greenlawn avenues. Construction could start in May and finish by the end of the year.

McNichols is one of five projects expected to start this year, including others on Conant Street, Rosa Parks Boulevard, Kercheval Avenue, and a parklet on Grand River Avenue.

In city documents from February 2019, upgrades to McNichols included revamped sidewalks with landscaping, a cycle track offset from the road, bus islands, and dedicated on-street parking spaces. It was expected to cost $2.78 million and eventually extend all the way to Wyoming Avenue. Mayor Mike Duggan recently spoke at a community meeting to gather more input, however, so a final design may still be in the works.

A 0.5-mile greenway in the Fitzgerald neighborhood should also be done later this year, and will run from the University of Detroit Mercy to Marygrove College, which is being converted into a “cradle-to-career” educational campus.

These infrastructure upgrades go hand-in-hand with the Fitzgerald Revitalization Project, a broader effort between the city, Kresge Foundation, and Fitz Forward development team to restore the struggling neighborhood and commercial corridor. Other milestones in the project include completion of the HomeBase community center, creation of Ella Fitzgerald park, clearing of 140 lots, boarding up of 92 homes, demolishing of 27 homes, and creating 20 wildflower meadows.

Originally, developers had planned to renovate over 100 homes, but only 13 have been completed so far. They now plan to renovate 16 more this year, and 38 others by 2024.

Last year, the city launched a number of streetscaping projects that should finish in 2020 on Livernois Avenue, Grand River Avenue, and Jos Campau. A shared street on Bagley in Mexicantown finished in late 2019.