Jefferson Ave. Blocks Campus Martius from the Riverfront. Let’s Bury It.
Detroit Free Press Business Columnist John Gallagher makes the case for burying a highway that he says no city planner would create today.
Downtown Detroit is buzzing during the summer with outdoor events, festivals, shoppers, and people enjoying the city’s nightlife.
But there’s a huge barricade between Detroit’s fantastic riverfront and Hart Plaza and the rest of downtown. That barrier is an eight lane highway called Jefferson Avenue. If we were planning a city design today, it seems almost inconceivable we would plop this kind of roadway in that place. But it’s there. Should we consider burying it?
Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson digs into the idea of radically altering Detroit’s downtown landscape to be more accommodating to pedestrians with Detroit Free Press Senior Business Columnist John Gallagher, who recently wrote a piece about the idea. “We need to get motorists to understand that the roadways aren’t just for them, they’re for everybody,” says Gallagher.
