DETROIT – Hazel Walker has lived at her home here on Lyford Avenue near French Road and Van Dyke Avenue in the shadow of Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit for nearly 50 years.
Walker has seen almost everything in this neighborhood.
On Wednesday (Feb. 25), what she sees outside her front door every day is the construction of a massive 42-acre solar park that is part of the city’s solar neighborhood initiative, which has begun to make parts of her block inaccessible.
“It’s like they have forgotten that we are down here, and we are still down here,” Walker said on Wednesday as construction vehicles moved through the open field across the street. “The airport is going to be blocking off down here because they bought those people out over 20 years ago.”
The project broke ground in October 2024 under former mayor Mike Duggan, with DTE Energy.
It will ultimately install solar panels across 165 acres of vacant land in five Detroit neighborhoods, starting on Van Dyke Avenue.
On Wednesday morning, Walker noticed that concrete barricades had gone upright outside of her home to go along with the “Road Closed” signs that were cutting Lyford off from Van Dyke Avenue.
She already had concerns about the city delivering mail, picking up trash, and providing emergency services.
The blockade made it feel like a message from the city was being sent.
“I have heart issues and neuropathy,” Walker said. “And then my son that lives with me, he has seizures, so we need access to go up and down this street.”
“You’re playing with people’s lives down here,” Walker added. “What if I need to call the EMS because I’m having a heart attack. They got to go all the way around to come get me.”
The project has caused numerous headaches for residents.
Apple Maps and Google Maps, for example, do not account for the construction project, and GPS systems often direct people through the site.
Some neighborhood residents have taken buyouts and decided to move.
A couple has decided to stay, and fencing has been built around the homes to accommodate it.
The situation in Lyford Avenue is a bit more complex.
“[City] Airport is moving in, and that’s going to be coming off of French up against Gilbo, as well as the solar fencing that’s going to come up on Castle Street,” Kayana Sessoms, the Manager of Neighborhoods for District 3, said. “It put the residents on Lyford in a complicated position.
“We revisited the conversation with them, and they were very open to relocation when they noticed the challenges that they were going to be set up with,” Walker said. Walker acknowledged they will be moving – albeit begrudgingly. “I am going to move, but I’m not going to be rushed. The solar panel is not that important. Go put it somewhere else.”
All of this has Walker and others feeling like they are being intentionally pushed out, which Sessoms and the city say is not the case.
“We’re here to make sure that your voice is heard and that you have support and figuring out how to get through whatever challenges you may be going through,” Sessoms said. “Every district has two managers assigned to support residents and troubleshooting any issues that they have in the city, and engaging them through other opportunities that are provided through city services.“
Sessoms met with Walker and her neighbors this afternoon and heard their concerns.
The relocation process needs to be approved by the Detroit City Council before it becomes official, and the solar field on Van Dyke should be completed by the end of this year.
For Walker, even as she has agreed to move, she simply wants respect.
“Regardless of what it looks like. These are still our homes, and until we go, this is still our home,” Walker said.