When planning began for a new international bridge to link Detroit’s Delray neighborhood and Windsor, Canada, nearby residents knew their lives would be affected, by both the construction and truck traffic. To protect their quality of life, residents launched the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition (CBC) in 2008, 10 years before construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge began. They faced countless challenges, but their long-term, community-led research and advocacy, in partnership with researchers at the University of Michigan, have had lasting positive impacts, such as securing funding for a multi-phase health impact assessment.

Laying the Groundwork for Sustained Community Engagement

The residential areas near the bridge construction site in Detroit are predominantly communities of color and low-income households. Before construction, residents were already burdened by cumulative impacts from transportation and industrial activity, so they were concerned that the bridge would further negatively affect their well-being. Although a 2008 environmental impact statement concluded that regional air quality would improve during and after construction, it did not consider the disproportionate environmental health impact on the neighborhoods close to the construction site.

“Residents were concerned that the environmental impact assessment had essentially overlooked them,” said Simone Sagovac, CBC’s lead organizer. “The CBC had already collected data that showed residents had health concerns about the bridge that weren’t addressed in the impact assessment.”

Next, the CBC focused on informing decision-makers and sharing residents’ concerns by engaging in various activities such as testifying at state hearings about the bridge, leading tours for elected officials to humanize land use decisions, and conducting community-led studies on air quality and health.

In 2015, the CBC conducted a brief quality of life survey. It revealed that residents had bridge-related concerns that touched on several areas, such as financial, safety, and health. The CBC then sought partnerships with public health researchers and survey experts from the University of Michigan to conduct more rigorous data collection.

In 2017, the CBC and its academic partners launched another, larger survey that focused specifically on health concerns associated with the bridge. Natalie Sampson, associate professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, worked closely with Sagovac to ensure that the survey was designed collaboratively with community residents and the CBC.

“Residents worked with researchers and students to design the survey questionnaire and methods, conduct the household surveys, and interpret the findings,” said Sampson. “Findings from this survey provided a springboard for one of the CBC’s subsequent requests to local and state leaders – a health impact assessment, which is well-suited to assess local social and health concerns in the context of a planned development project.”

The Health Impact Assessment

As part of a multimillion-dollar agreement between the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan, which came about in large part because of sustained community mobilization and CBC efforts, funds were allocated for a three-phase health impact assessment, as well as for other community benefits like air monitoring and home mitigation programs.

“Since the CBC had been active for so long, we had the community and political ties to advocate for a health impact assessment,” said Angela G. Reyes, Executive Director of Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, which, together with other community organizations and the CBC, was part of community mobilization. “Getting support for the assessment was a major milestone because it would provide real data from the residents who would be impacted most. Additionally, it would pave the way for us to make recommendations for mitigation and community benefits.”

The baseline health impact survey was administered in 2018, while the second and third phases will occur during construction and after the bridge’s completion. Strong relationships between academic and community partners created a sense of trust, which helped with survey administration.

“It was essential that the health impact assessment captured the concerns and experiences of residents. Meeting several times to discuss issues, review drafts of the questions, and pilot test the questionnaire helped ensure the survey adequately captured residents’ concerns,” said Amy J. Schulz, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health who was involved in the process. “Furthermore, the survey was administered by a team of bilingual community residents who received extensive training in interviewing and human subject protections. This was central to building trust and engaging the community.”

The full assessment was published by the Detroit Health Department in 2019, with recommendations for decreasing residents’ exposure to pollution by enforcing truck idling laws and mindfully designing truck routes, and for providing funds to help residents relocate.

The community-academic team recently published a paper, Mobilization for Community Benefits to Assess Health and Promote Environmental Justice near the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which highlights select findings and recommendations. For example, findings related to asthma informed recommendations about spatial buffers between heavily trafficked roadways and residential areas. The CBC, in making this recommendation and others, focused on protecting community residents, and will continue doing so as bridge construction progresses.

The Gordie Howe Community Mobilization as an Important Case Study

The community-academic team published this paper as an important case study. There are no universally accepted health impact assessment guidelines and no standards for identifying cumulative effects related to transportation infrastructure. Even without such standards, the case study shows how community-led efforts resulted in specific strategies for reducing potential adverse health impacts and for securing funding for mitigation efforts and other community benefits. Its three-phase aspect is important because it allows public health officials and government agencies to understand changing contexts and to make recommendations over time.

Southwest Detroit communities played a central role in shaping bridge-related policies that greatly affect them, and they will continue to do so as construction progresses. According to Schulz, the strategic use of health impact assessments to monitor and inform efforts around infrastructure projects can increase environmental justice in disproportionately impacted communities. However, ongoing collaboration between government, academic, and community leaders is needed to translate findings into meaningful outcomes.