ROUGE GATEWAY GREENWAY
Friends of the Rouge is spearheading the effort to establish a network of connected greenways on the Main Branch of the Rouge River for recreation and enjoyment. The original Rouge Gateway Greenway Master Plan was completed in February 2001 in conjunction with the Rouge Gateway Partnership. This partnership included Wayne County along with thirteen communities, organizations and interested private companies located along the Rouge River. The project corridor consists of an eight-mile stretch of the Rouge River extending from the confluence of its tributaries, near Ford Road in Dearborn, to its mouth at the Detroit River.
The Rouge Gateway Greenway is one element of the regional Connecting the Rouge project currently in progress which also includes Hines Drive and the Lower Rouge River Greenway. Phase 1 of the Rouge Gateway Greenway extending from Hines Drive, north of Ford Road to Dearborn’s west retail area on Michigan Avenue was completed in 2005.
ROUGE GATEWAY GREENWAY PHASE 2
The second phase of the Rouge Gateway Greenway has just completed design, and is now moving towards construction. The new 1.9 mile trail leg will connect communities and provide new opportunities for recreation and public access to the Rouge River. This project begins just west of Evergreen Road and north of Michigan Avenue at the confluence of the Lower and Main Branch of the Rouge River and extends downstream where it terminates west of the Southfield Freeway, at Village Road, near the Henry Ford Museum. Phase 2 Design development was facilitated by SmithGroup and funded through two separate grants from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation: one awarded to the Friends of the Detroit River and a second award to Friends of the Rouge. Wayne County Parks, Friends of the Rouge and The Henry Ford are providing design guidance and leadership for this project.
The Rouge Gateway Greenway Phase 2 Connector is a part of a vision to connect Hines Park to the University of Dearborn and extend south along the Rouge River to Fort Street Bridge Park in Detroit. The Rouge Gateway Greenway is part of a network of planned and existing blueway and greenway trails that includes the Joe Louis Greenway, Downriver Linked Greenway, Great Lakes Way, and the Iron Belle Trail. Friends of the Rouge is simultaneously working with community partners to design and build multi-purpose trailheads with universally accessible launch infrastructure on the Lower Rouge Water Trail, that extends from Canton to River Rouge at the Rouge River’s confluence with the Detroit River.
Friends of the Rouge has secured $6.9 million funding through Wayne Wayne County Economic Development and the Ralph C Wilson Jr. Foundation for the construction of Phase 2. The project team is enduring the final permitting for the project and hopes to break ground in Fall 2025. With funding from the Ralph C Wilson Jr. Foundation, FOTR has also completed design development of Phase 3 of the Rouge Gateway Greenway that will extend the trail from Village Rd. to Rotunda Dr. in Allen Park.
Friends of the Rouge Helps Foster Community Engagement for Inkster Park Design Improvement Project
Wayne County Parks and the Alliance of Rouge Communities has partnered with FOTR and the Inkster Taskforce, through a grant (GL00E03702) from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and distribute an online survey with the goal to enhance programming and connectivity to Inkster Park while preserving existing community uses for Inkster residents and the surrounding communities. Parks are a primary means to connect residents to each other and to the outdoors and its natural landscapes, while providing enrichment to the users in a way that can also foster stewardship. This survey is also being distributed in the City of Inkster and surrounding Wayne County communities at City Halls, senior centers, and youth service organizations to cast a wide net and gauge community perspectives. Your input is needed to ensure the current and future plan elements provide safe, convenient, and functional non-motorized links through and into Inkster Park that meet public needs. We need your voice!
Public Input & Design Meeting
Your voice is needed! Join Wayne County Parks and the Alliance of Rouge Communities for a public input event. Learn about potential habitat improvements to Inkster park and how the public will benefit. The focus of the Inkster Park Design project is to use the park areas to connect key neighborhoods and communities with the parks and the habitat being restored there.
When: Saturday, November 8 from 10 AM – 12 PM
Where: Inkster Recreation Center, 2025 Middlebelt Rd, Inkster, MI 48141
In the News
September 19, 2025
WXYZ Detroit: Southwest Detroit is getting its first access point to the Rouge River
November 30, 2024
The Detroit News: Rouge Gateway Greenway