Woodward Cruises to National Attention With Scenic Byway Honors

WASHINGTON, June 13 -- Shortly after noon today, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta designated Metro Detroit's Woodward Avenue a National Scenic Byway. Woodward is Michigan's first roadway to be designated a National Scenic Byway, in the program sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. The program "recognizes a distinctive collection of American roads, their stories and treasured places. They are the heart and soul of America."

"Woodward Avenue is one of the few byways offering an urban experience," observed Rob Draper, Scenic Byway Director of the Federal Highway Administration. "Woodward Avenue 'put the world on wheels' and ushered in a new era in manufacturing."

Since 1997, the Woodward Avenue Action Association (WA3), City of Detroit, Oakland County, Wayne County and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments have worked to enhance and promote Woodward Avenue, from its origin at the Detroit River north to the Loop in Pontiac. In 1999, Michigan Governor John Engler designated Woodward Avenue a State Heritage Route, and the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Woodward Heritage Organization, Wayne (WHOW) joined the effort. The Woodward Heritage Team embraces a comprehensive development approach for the Avenue fashioned after the Main Street Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"Woodward Avenue is more than the center roadway for southeast Michigan. It is much more ... it is 'THE MAIN STREET' for the State of Michigan," notes L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive. "Woodward is home to more than 200 state and nationally registered historic places and more than 200 attractions and annual events. Exceptional shopping, dining and entertainment opportunities are found in the communities along Woodward Avenue. It is our heart, soul, the center of where we live, work and play. Our heritage is deeply rooted along the corridor. The historic developments that took place here literally changed the world."

"We are working cooperatively to develop the Woodward Avenue story so we can share it with the world," said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Woodward Corridor is home to many world-class institutions and buildings -- the DIA, the Zoo, Cranbrook, Orchestra Hall, the Renaissance Center, the Fisher Building, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre, Ford Field, and the Detroit Science Center, just to name a very few. Woodward is also home to the Ford Motor's Piquette Avenue Plant where the Model T was first conceived and built, as well as the Ford Highland Park Plant, the birthplace of the moving assembly line, daylight factory and Five Dollar Day. "These are jewels in the rough that need our attention. Textbooks around the world highlight these sites, and our efforts are focused on how to give them the care and attention they deserve."

Scenic Byway designation and the financial assistance from the grant program will assist the Woodward Heritage Team in 'bringing Woodward's story to life' with tours, interpretive markers and physical improvements. The Heritage Team received a Byway Grant of $536,000 in April 2002 to further their efforts. With grant match assistance from the Michigan Department of Transportation, WA3 and WHOW, total funding for the program tops a million dollars. "We expect to take our million dollars and leverage it to realize hundreds of millions of dollars of investment directed to Woodward," explained Wayne County Executive Edward McNamara. "Governments, institutions, and the private sector, all on the same page with a vision and plan in hand, will work to preserve and restore our significant historic buildings and create new buildings and investments to complement the story of Woodward Avenue."

For additional information on the Woodward Heritage Team's efforts, contact Deborah Schutt, Team Coordinator (248-332-0326) or visit the website www.woodwardheritage.com . Information on Scenic Byways is available at www.byways.org .