This week, the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) released new renderings of the potential cap(s) over I-75 in downtown Detroit. The caps would give pedestrians a better connection between downtown, Midtown, and Brush Park.
Last week, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) received a $2 million grant from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Reconnecting Communities Program. The DDP has been a part of the planning for this initiative. The grant will help the project move closer to a final design.
“We received tremendous community input during the three visioning sessions last year to inform the creation of the community preferred concept design for the I-75 Caps,” said James Fidler, DDP’s Urban Evolution Strategist. “This new funding will help take the design from concept to reality as we continue to engage the community around how to best reconnect the Downtown to communities separated by highway infrastructure.”
The proposed cap near Woodward Avenue. Downtown Detroit Partnership
Currently, the project has three caps across I-75: one near Grand River between Second and Third Avenue (close to the new University of Michigan Center for Innovation); one near Woodward; and one between John R and Brush Streets in Brush Park. The project is very much in the planning phase, and will need significant federal funding to move forward.
In the rendering at the top of the page, we can see where the caps would be located in an aerial view of downtown. The buildings in white are either proposed or being built; many are in the long-stalled District Detroit project.
