Gratiot Triangle bus stop gets help via community collaboration

 
The Gratiot Triangle bus stop, at the intersection of Gratiot and Conner Avenues, was an eyesore. But its biggest problem was chronic flooding, creating a hazard for neighborhood community members trying to access public transit. Today, the bus stop is covered with beautiful plants that soak up rain and two trees that provide shade. At a press conference this afternoon, community members and representatives from the groups involved in Gratiot Triangle’s bus stop transformation -Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, The Greening of Detroit, and Alliance for the Great Lakes – joined together to formally unveil the new bus stop.
 
The transformation of the Gratiot Triangle bus stop was not a usual transportation project. The inspiration for the project, and ultimately the project design, was a community-led effort. After hearing concerns from neighborhood residents, Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative teamed up with The Greening of Detroit and the Alliance for the Great Lakes to find solutions to improve the bus stop. Project planners gathered input from neighborhood residents and used that to inform the site improvements, leading to creative ideas that fit the needs of everyone from residents to Detroit Department of Transportation to groups concerned about local water quality impacts. Creativity was also a focus when fundraising for the project, which was ultimately supported by a combination of small donations made via Patronicity, an online crowdfunding campaign, and grant support from local foundations.
 
“Before this project, the bus stop was a pit of mud and overgrown weeds. Now it is a bus stop that functions like it should, aplace where riders can wait for the bus in a safe and comfortable location,” said Alex Allen, project coordinator with the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative.“Next spring we are looking forward to enhancing the stop with additional plantings, a shelter, and bench.”
 
“The Gratiot Triangle design resolved many social and environmental issues in the highly utilized space. The design mitigated the frequent flooding caused by improper grading and compacted soil, addition of native and landscape plants provide human scale and safely direct pedestrian traffic in this busy vehicle dominated space,” said Dean Hay, director of green infrastructure at The Greening of Detroit. “Additionally in 2017 DDOT will be installing a bus shelter and benches that will protect and improve the quality of this space for bus patrons.”
 
The Gratiot Triangle bus stop project is part of a bigger water focus in Detroit. And it is the start of a longer community effort to identify opportunities to implement natural infrastructure projects. The bus stop connects people to Conner Creek Greenway, which connects neighborhoods from Eight Mile all the way to the Detroit River. More natural infrastructure projects connected to the greenway could help improve immediate problems while also being part of long-term solutions to capture and clean up storm water and reduce flooding.
 
“The Alliance is committed to connecting Great Lakes issues to what’s relevant in local communities. This particular neighborhood in the city’s Airport District boasts a 9-plus mile greenway connection that can be used to help alleviate flooding constantly affecting this area,” said Khalil Ligon, southeast Michigan outreach coordinator at the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “We see projects, like this bus stop, as a way to address flooding and start the conversations around broader water issues.”