Detroit is still on my mind often as I see the duality of ongoing issues and inspirational stories of rebirth. It was great to see news of the recent opening of the Dequindre Cut, a section of abandoned rail line connecting the waterfront to areas of the Central City. I remember the Dequindre fondly, as when we were on the SDAT trip last fall, I got a sneak preview of the trail – and I also had the distinction of pronouncing ‘De-quin-dre’ wrong, oh lets say half a dozen times (trust me, it’s harder than it sounds).
:: images via Detroit Free Press
The initial 1.2 mile stretch is part of a much larger network of greenways and other multi-modal transportation infrastructure as Detroit learns to love it’s relationship with the car – but allow other forms of transportation some space in the urban fabric. A map of the new and future system is found below:
:: image via Detroit Free Press
As seen in the photo below, the linear route used to be overgrown with vegetation, which has a certain appeal (although probably not the most safe condition)… and the bike/ped path cleaned up the verges a bit… inevitably with vegetation creeping back in a manageable way. Treehugger had a bit about it with a video as well, which I couldn’t get to load… they could have picked a less barren/highway looking photo – but check out the idiotic vitriol in the comment stream that was elicited about this one… interesting.
:: image via Treehugger
