Research for the I-496 Project

For our class project I have been assigned to the research team. Tomorrow, the research group I am in is going to the Library of Michigan to begin looking at documents for our project. Ed, Riley, Michelle and myself are looking for planning documents for the highway including alternate routes that were debated. We are going to be looking for maps, documents, pictures, newspaper articles and anything else that might relate to our topic.

Tomorrow is just the beginning. Because of the limited hours, we are probably going to have to go back at some point to continue our search but we want to begin digging in to see what we find. We have looked at the background readings that everyone did for specific document names that might be helpful but I plan on asking the librarians there to help us out if we need it.

I will update later with what we find (which hopefully will be a lot!)

Beginning our Class Project - I-496

After reading Matt Miller's article, "Looking Back: I-496 Construction: A Complicated Legacy" from the Lansing State Journal, I was able to get a little background information on our class project about the construction of I-496. Miller's article offers two different viewpoints about this event - destruction and a blessing. The article was a great start for information on what we will be focusing on this semester, but I have some questions that hopefully we will be able to answer during our research and proposal.

1. What is the timeline of events? When was it decided that 496 was going to be built? What objections were there?

2. What reasons were given for the need to construct I-496? Pros/Cons?

3. What new neighborhoods did displaced people move to (both White people and African Americans)?