Back on the early morning of 25 September, Nixill messaged me a photo that they’d just taken. They’d ridden their bike up to the location of an interesting pedestrian bridge. It spans the intersection of Groesbeck Highway and Masonic (13½ Mile Road) in the northeastern suburb of Fraser, in the middle of an industrial district spanning both sides of Groesbeck. The closest residential area is about 500 feet to the east, and the closest schools are Arts Academy in the Woods and Emerson Elementary over half a mile to the west.

In 2017, the Michigan Department of Transportation considered demolishing the bridge, citing its age and lack of ADA compliance. (It’s one of only a few extant local pedbridges I can think of that has stairs, rather than some sort of ramp.) Fraser City Council members acknowledged that it isn’t heavily trafficked, but said it’s in good condition and provides an important alternative to crossing the seven-lane Groesbeck Highway at-grade, so the bridge stayed.

This post is a compilation of all the extant pedestrian bridges across I-75 in Southwest Detroit. Similarly to the Lower Lodge post, I didn’t necessarily ride these bridges in order or on the same day, so I will present them from south to north.

I live in Southwest Detroit, so this post will be a bit more opinionated and text-heavy than most of my other posts.

This post is a compilation of all the pedestrian bridges across the Lodge Freeway from downtown to Wayne State University/I-94, plus the Trumbull Crossing bridge across I-94 because its southern end is on the WSU athletic campus. I didn’t necessarily ride these bridges in order or on the same day, so I’m going to present them from south to north (up from downtown).

Update 2020-07-22: Added dashcam frame grabs illustrating the recent developments in Hazel Park.

This past Thursday I was driving down I-75 on the way back from Micro Center. I discovered that the bridgescapes in Hazel Park have changed significantly since my last post.

• There’s now a sound-isolating wall between the freeway and Hazelcrest Place apartments, near the Orchard Avenue bridge.
• The Harry Avenue new pedbridge is open to the public, even as it still has some scaffolding on its outside.
• The Bernhard Avenue old pedbridge has been demolished (and with it, the memorial to Jynx), and work has begun on its replacement.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to take new photos on Thursday. On 2020-07-22, I was passing through the area again and this time I remembered to take the SD card out of my dashcam and take some frame grabs, which are below.

Also, sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been busy with things like helping a friend clean out his house, job interviews, and lamenting the recent heat wave in Detroit. I documented all the bridges along the Lodge south of I-94 this past Tuesday, and I’m going to document all the bridges along I-75 between Ferdinand (the southernmost currently open bridge) and Leland (in Midtown) tomorrow morning.

Update 2020-07-22: See Hazel Park updates for the state of Hazel Park’s pedbridges as of late July 2020.

I really don’t have an excuse for delaying this post so long, considering I rode across all the pedestrian bridges in Hazel Park ten days ago on the morning of 12 June. My route started at my partner’s house, which is only a couple blocks from Hazel Park’s Green Acres Park and Invest Roosevelt High School. The Browning Avenue pedestrian bridge, the northernmost in Hazel Park, connects that park and school with the neighbourhood across I-75 to its east.