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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.
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