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
General information
Location	600 Civic Center Drive Detroit, Michigan 48226 United States
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
Preceding station Detroit People Mover Following station Huntington Place One-way operation Detroit People Mover Financial District Next counter-clockwise
Location

West Riverfront is the nearest People Mover station to the Downtown campus of the Wayne County Community College District, and also serves the Detroit Riverwalk via its street entrance.

History

The station previously served the Joe Louis Arena, the home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, until the arena's closure in 2017. The station was built with a series of wide concrete ramps from street level to the platform, allowing it to handle the flow of large crowds from events at the arena, and a pedestrian bridge linking the station's concourse level directly to the arena's entrance. The arena bridge was demolished in 2019 alongside the arena itself, though two enclosed skybridges remain, connecting the station to the Riverfront Towers residential complex and the disused arena parking garage.^[2]

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]

Public art

The platform includes a Venetian glass mosaic, Voyage, created by Gerome Kamrowski. The iridescent mosaic reflects the orange hues used in the station's tile, with designs inspired by mythological and astrological figures.^[6][7]