GPP city planners say only one lane of traffic is to be restored, intended for vehicles going from Detroit into Grosse Pointe Park. Traffic going from suburb to city will continue to be diverted onto Wayburn, then required to turn into an alley to reach Alter Road in Detroit. (Photo by HB Meeks/Tell Us Detroit)

   
[bannerlinks/735 banner.htm] [bannerlinks/right-banner.htm]
[bannerlinks/tellusa-logo.htm] Find more about Weather in Detroit, MI
 
[bannerlinks/pagelinks.htm]  
 

 

 

Grosse Pointe Park to re-open Kercheval Closure at Detroit border

GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI (Tell Us Det) - In another twist, Grosse Pointe Park officials have decided to re-open Kercheval Ave. at Wayburn St., an intersection that in the last year,  has created a racial and social divide between neighboring Detroit and its own upscale residents.

Early in the week, GPP workers began to move the three produce stands which has served as a barricade between the two communities, off the street and onto a nearby vacant lot. Several scantly decorated Christmas trees were imported to the spot to continue the screen and blockade.

One lane of traffic is to be restored, intended for vehicles going from Detroit into Grosse Pointe Park, according to the city's preliminary plan. Traffic going from suburb to city will continue to be diverted onto Wayburn, then required to turn into an alley to reach Alter Road in Detroit.

The two city's mayors agreed in October to remove the sheds but the suburb's officials who has no intentions removing the barricade said earlier this week that nothing would change soon.

The three empty sheds are being moved to the nearby vacant lot to protect them from vandalism according to the GPP City Manager. They will be replaced next spring.

Some have said the buildings were erected as a hostile act. Many residents have been opposed to cutting off traffic and saw it as a way for the suburb to keep people out.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's spokesman gave only a limited written response: "The city is monitoring the progress and we look forward to the road reopening soon."

Last week, Duggan said he was disappointed that Grosse Pointe Park officials had failed remove the barricade on Kercheval Avenue, after missing a deadline of Nov. 1 to which both side had agreed.

"I drive past there twice a week, and I'll believe it when I see it," Duggan said. For their part, Grosse Pointe Park officials praised Duggan for moving on requests to remove blight on their side of the border, which they said fell on deaf ears for decades in previous mayors' administrations.

The deal includes removing blight and redeveloping the border area between the two cities to create a connecting gateway. Grosse Pointe Park were to reopen drivers' access to the blocked-off Kercheval Avenue, where workers finished building traffic barriers and erecting sheds in the spring of this year.

 

 

  [bannerlinks/bottom-banner-link.htm] 
    [bannerlinks/ad_tower.html]
[bannerlinks/all_rights_reserved.htm]