Community members weigh in on I-75 Cap project in Detroit

Downtown Detroit may be undergoing a transformation in the near future thanks to the I-75 Cap project.

On Tuesday evening, the Downtown Detroit Partnership held its third of four feasibility study meetings to both inform residents and gather input on the project, which is intended to reconnect communities historically cut off by the highway. 

In the works is a green area over the freeway that would create usable land and provide space for parks and plazas that will help connect the Cass and Brush Park neighborhoods to downtown, something that hasn't been possible since the construction of I-75. 

"The caps are large bridge structures that are built over I-75; three of them are currently proposed as part of the design," said James Fidler, an urban evolution strategist for the Downtown Detroit Partnership. "So this is an opportunity to be able to really start to stitch together those communities and provide safe crossings back into downtown while also providing some phenomenal new public space to the downtown. And in some ways start to make that highway disappear a little bit so that you feel that it's more connected seamlessly than it is today."

Dozens of residents attended the feasibility study to learn more about the project, which is similar to a Cap project over I-696 in Oak Park.

"Bring it on, develop our city, and make it feasible for the people here to enjoy," said Patricia Hicks, a teacher at Cass Technical High School.

Hicks says she would've loved one of these caps over I-75 when she was a teenager.

"I could just see, and I could sit here and imagine me and my friends coming out, and going over there. I was an athlete and I was a performing arts student I could see me and some of the basketball team going over there and throwing around a ball or something of that nature," said Hicks.

The feasibility study will be completed by July, and the Downtown Detroit Partnership says the next steps will depend on the engineering findings, environmental review, funding pathways, and public feedback.