Midtown Loop

[stasu1213]

I had read in yestarday's Detroit News about the groundbreaking of the Midtown Loop. That is good news. I am waiting to here the news on the groundbreaking for the light rail from downtown to New Center. Does anyone know when that event will take place? Had the idea gotten tangled in the red tape of politics?

[French777]

Model D media said groundbreaking was April 15th.

After seven long years developing plans, raising funds and negotiating easements, University Cultural Center Association [[UCCA) is poised to break ground on the Midtown Loop greenway on April 15. The first phase, which runs .85 miles along Kirby between Cass and John R and then south along John R to Canfield, will be complete by October of this year. This fall, a short stretch of the mixed-use path that runs along Canfield between John R and Cass will begin construction and finally, the "loop" will be completed heading north along Cass back to Kirby in the summer of 2011.

Sue Mosey, president of UCCA, says the first phase links together several institutions, which will help generate users right off the bat. The path will link Wayne State University, Detroit Public Library Main Branch, Detroit Historical Society, Detroit Institute of Arts, College for Creative Studies, Detroit Science Center and Detroit Medical Center. "There are enough attractions, enough going on, for people to have an experience, which will encourage people to use it," she says.

The 12-foot-wide shared use trail removes a lane of street traffic along some stretches and makes use of easements along others. Amenities include bike storage lockers and racks, dog and human drinking fountains, dog waste stations, wayfinding signage, benches and LED pedestrian lighting. The plan makes use of the preponderance of mature trees along the route, but adds 5,000 perennials and grasses, 850 bushes and 200 trees along the route.

In all, the project has been worth the effort, says Mosey, who says it has evolved over the years. "It feels more like a pedestrian zone, more than just adding a wider sidewalk to a busy vehicular thruhway," she says. "It's going to be a culture shock, especially for drivers."

The entire two-mile project will cost $8 million and is funded by the Greenways Initiative of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Kresge Foundation, Michigan Department of Transportation, Federal stimulus funds, Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, First American Title Insurance Company and Woodward Avenue Action Association. The Ford Foundation has provided money towards the planning of Phase Three, which will connect the Loop to Eastern Market. That phase is anticipated to be built in 2012. A $1 million complementary public art plan also is being planned.

[leady106]

Does anyone know the status of the 2md phase of the Midtown Loop? The new housing project accross from Old Main is near completion. It has installed a new sidewalk that iwas to be part of the Midtown Loop but it does not any of the street features included in the 1st phase.
Also, has there been any news about the next extentsion of the Dequindere Cut?

[wolverine]

Does anyone know the status of the 2md phase of the Midtown Loop? The new housing project accross from Old Main is near completion. It has installed a new sidewalk that iwas to be part of the Midtown Loop but it does not any of the street features included in the 1st phase.
Also, has there been any news about the next extentsion of the Dequindere Cut?

Possibly just temporary? Maybe the developer has to supply a new sidewalk but didn't have to contribute to the future project. In the end they'd probably just rip up the sidewalk when they do the streetscaping.

[j to the jeremy]

Possibly just temporary? Maybe the developer has to supply a new sidewalk but didn't have to contribute to the future project. In the end they'd probably just rip up the sidewalk when they do the streetscaping.

Yeah that's the drill...nothing like sustainability in action!

[Gistok]

One phase of this project doesn't sit well with me... ornamental grasses [[they usually grow very tall). I can see ornamental grasses being a catch basin for ornamental litter....

Of course if maintenance is part of the plan... then it won't be so bad....

[hybridy]

the 2019 reboot is back
https://detroit.curbed.com/2019/1/16...munity-meeting

this and the dequidre cut were part of my non-motorized transport corridor studies i completed in grad school circa 07-08. the idea was that the riverwalk would link the dequindre cut to the midtown loop, clark park/southwest greenway and connor creek greenway and connect up through the university district.

i envisioned a transit-oriented high density mixed-use district in SW Detroit @ Vernon and Livernois which included a transit stop on the commuter line from AA to downtown. it's one of the actively growing zip codes in the city proper since 00.

i see the assumptions haven't changed, but this project has been simmering for over a decade already...

im still waiting for the daylighting of bloody run creek

https://youtu.be/JB7z_2nVChI

[masterblaster]

1. The Midtown Loop will never be a viable non-motorized transit corridor, at least for bikes. It is just an extra wide, multi-colored sidewalk.

2. The Daylighting of the Bloody Run Creek would be a dream come true. It would be a game changer for the near east side. A greenbelt with a stream through the middle is the kind of recreational, aesthetic amenity that would draw people residents and investment to that part of the city, but daylighting would cost $1 billion...

3. I really like the idea of establishing a high-density mixed-used district at Vernor/Livernois. I hate how such a dense, pedestrian-oriented corridor like Vernor Highway abruptly becomes really suburban at that intersection. A stop on the Detroit-AA commuter rail would make sense there.

[stasu1213]

I had asked a question about the Midtown Loop in 2010. It is now 2019. I had noticed that many of the Greenway project locations had discontinued in the past couple of years. There is even a completed bridge that connect the Riverwalk from east of Chene Park to the part that start around St Antione. It wraps around the proposed new park or beach that will be under construction this year. However and unfortunately the bridge, which had been completed since last August and will not be in the way of the constructing of the beach, will not open until September which doesnt make sense. I had noticed that things were different when Faye Nelson was head of the Riverfront Conservancy. She made sure that every part completed was opened with a fence blocking off the part that was under construction. I had noticed that since she left the extending of the project had been moving at a snail's pace. I had heard many excuses why even texted members of the Riverfront Conservancy.