An I-75 lid? Grant to study building land over downtown Detroit highway
MDOT I-375 corridor redesign forum held at Eastern Market
The Michigan Department of Transportation set up in the Eastern Market shopping around its I-375 reconnecting communities project. The forum provided an open house for ideas - with a sensitivity to the emotional past that is intertwined with the freeway.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Could a lid be built over I-75 in Detroit?
Millions of dollars will go toward studying whether it's feasible to build a platform over a portion of the highway in downtown Detroit in an effort to reconnect the two sides of the city bisected by I-75.
An eventual deck that could be built over the highway would "knit downtown Detroit and Midtown back together", the chief infrastructure officer for the Michigan Infrastructure Office said in a release.
That way, people would have an easier time navigating around Detroit without being restricted to just overpasses over I-75.
"There’s a unique opportunity for Detroit to transform its transportation system in a way that positions the city for a stronger, more connected community for decades to come through this project," said Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
According to a fact sheet from the Department of Transportation, the I-75 Overbuild project could span from Cass to Brush Park. If constructed, it could be turned into a park with greenspace and sidewalks.
The DDP announced earlier in March that $2 million from the federal transportation department and another $1.9 million awarded to Detroit with the help of Sen. Gary Peters will support the I-75 Overbuild Planning Project.
It's not the only reimagining going on in terms of I-75. Further north in Detroit, the Michigan Department of Transportation is weighing converting I-375 into a six-lane boulevard. The community has leveled criticisms toward the proposal.