In what could be a transformative project for Motown, a chunk of change to the tune of $4 million has been earmarked to research the feasibility of placing a "lid" on a section of I-75 in the heart of downtown Detroit. Fox 2 Detroit reports that this lid, essentially a massive deck, could reconnect the downtown area with the Midtown neighborhood, which has long been split by the highway's expanse. The grant-backed study aims to determine whether this urban seam can be healed, with possibilities of parks and pedestrian pathways adorning the proposed cap.
The dollars, a mix of federal grants and local funding, include a $2 million slice from the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program through the U.S. Department of Transportation, as per Fox 2 Detroit. Another $1.9 million comes courtesy of the city of Detroit, with the support of Sen. Gary Peters. Olympia Development of Michigan and The Related Cos., tied to The District Detroit project, are chipping in a $400,000 match, promising to contribute as part of their community benefits agreement.
The move to study a cap over I-75 is not without precedence; the overlay along I-696 has had a similar role in better-connecting communities through green space. "This investment could knit downtown Detroit and Midtown back together, providing a pedestrian-oriented connector traversing I-75," Zachary Kolodin, chief infrastructure officer and director of the Michigan Infrastructure Office, told DBusiness.
The creative solution comes while other infrastructural makeovers are underway in Detroit. The Michigan Department of Transportation is considering turning another artery, I-375, into a boulevard. However, the community has aired grievances against the redesign, questioning its effectiveness. “There was an opportunity to not only think about I-375 but also how the overall transportation network in the downtown was coming together," Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, told Crain's Detroit Business.
However, despite the excitement and potential, there remains the unanswered question of the cost of such a monumental project. Leakages of ideas and feedback are hoped to shape the project into an asset that not only addresses the practicalities of traversing the city but also injects much-needed public space into Detroit's downtown. With these grants, Detroit edges closer to bridging the divisions that concrete and metal have forged through the heart of the city for decades.
