A six-month-long rebuild of West 9 Mile Road in downtown Ferndale is complete and showing off what it has to offer to people who drive, walk or bike the stretch of road that was redone in an effort to unify and promote the business district, create public art and gathering spaces, and update and maintain the city infrastructure.
The $1.8-million project paid for the replacement of 2,600 feet of outdated water main and also remade the roadway and sidewalks from Livernois to Pinecrest with a new streetscape.
The project, dubbed How the West was One, was paid for by the city of Ferndale, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, which has long wanted the west part of 9 Mile to be more connected to the east side across Woodward Avenue.
You'll know the new western half by the bright yellow park benches, recycling bins, bike parking loops, new street lighting, plants, trees and shrubbery. In addition, the road was narrowed and designed with on-street parking, better crosswalks and bike lane arrows that give cyclists a designated, ideally safer place to ride.
In addition, the new Kenton Pocket Park was carved out of the project and while the construction was disruptive, a new business opened, as did a new public art gallery.
Source: Chris Hughes, spokesperson, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.