Photo: Andrew Mullin ~ WJR
DETROIT, May 24, 2023 ~ Cyclers and pedestrians in Detroit just received a new path to get around the Motor City.
The Southwest Greenway, a new bicycle and pedestrian path, had its grand opening Wednesday next to Corktown. This is part of the city’s Joe Louis Greenway project that will connect Detroit and the communities around it with a network of pedestrian and cycling greenways.
The Joe Louis Greenway will stretch 27.5 miles and connect 23 Detroit neighborhoods, said Detroit City Council Chair Mary Sheffield. The project will cost about $240,000 to complete.
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May 24, 2023 ~ Detroit‘s new Southwest Greenway opened Wednesday. This half-mile recreational pathway will serve to connect the Detroit Riverfront with the Michigan Central Station campus and surrounding neighborhoods. The pathway is intended as a section of the larger Joe Louis Greenway, which when complete, will provide a 27.5-mile walking and bike thoroughfare that connects five Detroit council districts plus the cities of Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.
(CONTINUED) The Southwest Greenway stretches from the Detroit Riverfront to Michigan Central Station.
Many city leaders were attendance for the ceremony, including Sheffield, President and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Mark Wallace, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. The mayor said the Southwest Greenway will be one of the most popular spots in the Joe Louis Greenway.
“The future of this city is going to be shaped by what is here,” Duggan said at the ceremony.
PHOTOS:
May 24, 2023 ~ Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and other dignitaries dedicate the Southwest Greenway, a half-mile recreational pathway that is intended as a section of the larger Joe Louis Greenway. When complete, the Joe Louis Greenway will provide a 27.5-mile walking and bike thoroughfare that connects five Detroit council districts plus the cities of Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. Photo: Andrew Mullin ~ WJR
(CONTINUED) RuShan Long, member of the Joe Louis Greenway Advisory Council, said places like the riverfront used to be abandoned and is proud to see the work that has been brought to the greenway.
“I have seen so much excitement in my community,” Long said. “I have been in that community for almost all of my seventy years, and seeing young people have ideas of opening businesses, looking for new housing, (and) these opportunities. Greenways are bigger than just bike trails and walking trails.
“But what we have to do as Detroiters, and also visitors and those that live around the area, come and use it. It is not good if we do not utilize it.”
READ RELATED: “New Partnership Brings Shared Vision for Riverwalk and Greenway Completion“
The Unified Greenway Campaign was also announced at the event, which aims to raise $340 million for the Joe Louis Greenway and the Detroit Riverfront project. About $70 million in new funding was announced from the Gilbert Family Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, William Davidson Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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