Archaeological Dig Kicks Off Along Detroit Riverfront for I-375 Project

Workers started digging Monday at Detroit's riverfront, marking the start of research tied to the upcoming I-375 rebuild set for 2026.

Through August, teams will dig deep, 20 feet down, searching for pieces of the past. This work comes before the start of a massive $1.1 billion transformation that will switch the highway into a wide street connecting Lafayette Park with downtown.

"It was gentrification," said Ken Coleman, a Detroit historian, according to Click on Detroit. "It was one of the earliest gentrification processes that was carried out, certainly in Detroit, but maybe throughout the nation."

Back in 1959, building I-375 destroyed Black Bottom, a vital community where African Americans thrived. Many who left the South during the Great Migration found their home here, including boxing star Joe Louis and Detroit's future mayor Coleman Young.

Plans for the new street add something fresh: the first two-way bike path since the highway's birth. This mile-long stretch will run from Gratiot Avenue straight to the water.

"There's no doubt we need to study this history, learn from this history, and ultimately respond to this history in a very significant way," Coleman said. This work tries to fix past wrongs when thousands of African American families lost their homes.

Cars will still move freely on I-375 and Jefferson Avenue while the dig goes on. Once archaeologists finish their work, crews will install new sewers in spring 2026.

By 2029, the project should finish its main goal: bringing back together parts of the city that the old highway split apart.