West Riverfront station
West Riverfront station (formerly Joe Louis Arena) is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located on Steve Yzerman Drive across from the former site of the Joe Louis Arena, near the intersection of 3rd Street and Jefferson Avenue, where M-10 terminates.
West Riverfront | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | Third Street and Jefferson Avenue W. Detroit, Michigan | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°19′31″N 83°03′09″W | ||||||||||
Owned by | Detroit Transportation Corporation | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | July 31, 1987 | ||||||||||
Previous names | Joe Louis Arena (1987-2022) | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
2014 | 177,618[1] | ||||||||||
Rank | 4 out of 13 | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Prior to the Joe Louis Arena's closure in 2017, the station was directly connected to the arena and its parking garage via pedestrian bridges from the concourse level. The bridge to the arena was demolished with the arena, and the bridge to the now-disused garage is closed, though the Detroit City Council plans to reopen the garage in the future.[2] The station is still connected to the Riverfront Towers by an enclosed skybridge. It is the nearest station to the Downtown campus of the Wayne County Community College District, and also serves the Detroit Riverwalk via its street entrance, accessible by an elevator or a series of concrete ramps.
The People Mover shut down temporarily on March 30, 2020, due to decreased ridership amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Following the arena's demolition, the station was renamed West Riverfront when it reopened with the system's restart on May 20, 2022.[4][5] As of June 2022, the trains' automated announcements still announced the station as "Joe Louis Arena." As of April 2023, signage along the track facing the platform still refers to the station as "Joe Louis Arena."
See also
References
- Lawrence, Eric D (2015-06-24). "People Mover's Grand Circus Station back in service". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
- Nagl, Kurt (2019-06-04). "Detroit to spend $2.76 million to reopen Joe Louis Arena parking garage". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- Rahal, Sarah (2022-05-19). "Detroit People Mover resumes service with free rides for 90 days". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- Witsil, Frank (2022-05-20). "Detroit People Mover reopens with limited service, free rides after 2-year closure". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- "Service Update June 2: Restart Information". Detroit People Mover. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-18.