Detroit Lands $10.5M Federal Grant for Joe Louis Greenway
The City of Detroit will receive a $10.5 million federal grant to construct the new Joe Louis Greenway, according to an announcement by the Biden administration on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The grant’s funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a legislative achievement of outgoing President Joe Biden.
The Federal Highway Administration notes that the greenway’s construction will feature an off-street segment between Woodward Avenue and Dequindre Street along a former rail corridor that the city now owns.
This grant is the latest in a series of federal funding that has supported the greenway’s decade-long development. When completed, the greenway will extend to 27.5 miles and unite close to two dozen Detroit neighborhoods with Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.
“With the grants announced today — made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — towns and cities in more than a dozen states will have funding in place to plan or construct infrastructure that allows people to safely walk, bike, and roll to schools, medical centers, jobs, and other destinations,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Michigan resident.
In July 2024, the Joe Louis Greenway project received a $20.7 million grant to connect the greenway with the Iron Belle Trail. The trail extends more than 2,000 miles from the far western portion of the Upper Peninsula to Belle Isle in Detroit.
Approximately $11 million of the $20.7 million involves RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) funds earmarked for extending the Dequindre Cut Greenway to Warren Avenue to create a shared-use path. The remaining funds from the $20.7 million will be used to build a shared-use path for the Iron Belle Trail on Woodmere Street between Vernor Highway and Fort Street.
