A $300 million plan to reconnect long disconnected communities in Detroit is moving forward following the completion of a comprehensive study into the initiative.
The Downtown Detroit Partnership, working with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the Detroit city leaders and philanthropic partners can move forward with a proposed $300 million plan to construct three park-like caps over I-75 in downtown Detroit.
Supported by a $2 million U.S. Department of Transportation Neighborhood Access and Equity Planning grant, the project will next enter the National Environmental Policy Act review process while project partners pursue funding, determine construction phasing and develop a long-term maintenance plan.
The proposal is intended to reconnect neighborhoods divided when I-75 was built through downtown. During the feasibility study, AECOM, the engineering firm leading the effort, gathered community input that included photographs and personal stories about neighborhoods before the freeway split them. Like similar highway cap projects across the country, the proposed caps are designed to improve pedestrian connections, restore links between neighborhoods and create new public green space above the interstate.
Each cap would have a different focus. The West Cap would emphasize recreation and community activities, the Central Cap would serve as a gathering place with a performance pavilion and open event lawn, and the East Cap would honor Detroit’s Black cultural heritage and the former Paradise Valley neighborhood through gardens, public art and spaces for reflection.
If funded and ultimately constructed, the caps would join a growing number of projects nationwide that use park space over urban freeways to reconnect neighborhoods divided by highway construction.
Photo by K from Pexels
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