  Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 508 Registered: 04-2006 |
I visited the Deq Cut over the holiday and was pretty shocked with the level of clear cutting there. I'm very excited about this project because it will be a huge asset to the city, especially for the quality of life for those who will live near it and use it. Here is some of the early photo documentation (Friday Dec. 28, 2007). Looking south toward Jefferson Avenue. http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070058.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070059.jpg North toward Gratiot Avenue. http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070060.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070062.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070063.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070064.jpg You can see the Lafayette Avenue access ramp on the left. http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070065.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070066.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070068.jpg Approaching Eastern Market http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070073.jpg http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070074.jpg Looking south through Lafayette Park toward the riverfront. http://downtownmotown.8k.com/d etroitmay/2007_1228Detroit12_2 8_070075.jpg | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1907 Registered: 05-2005 |
awesome pictures, thanks! i've been wanting to take a peak but every time i drive across the cut, i'm on my way somewhere else | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 3553 Registered: 11-2003 |
Very cool, I am definitely looking forward to this! | ||
Iddude313 Member Username: Iddude313 Post Number: 129 Registered: 07-2005 |
I was speaking with the guy who oversees the Riverfront project. The DRC will oversee the Dequindre cut. He told me they were cutting most of the trees down but were going to keep the nice ones. Maples and such I guess. | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 164 Registered: 11-2006 |
It'd s beautiful thing! | ||
Kid_dynamite Member Username: Kid_dynamite Post Number: 437 Registered: 06-2007 |
Can you imagine what those workers found on the ground under the shrubs and trees through there? | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 588 Registered: 02-2006 |
Thankx for the shots. I look forward to watch the rising star of the cut. <313> | ||
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua Post Number: 1383 Registered: 01-2004 |
quote: Just a $h!+ load of liquor bottles I bet. | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 607 Registered: 11-2006 |
I look forward to seeing the final product, although I am saddened by the path the conservancy took with the plants, some of which were very unique because of their ancestry, which would have been early french farms. As for what they found a few liquor bottles, lots of spray paint caps, and tons of plastic bags. How I loathe plastic bags. | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 676 Registered: 11-2005 |
I walked the cut on last saturday, very muddy, I was disappointed by the lack of plant life left and am curious as to why they are knocking down bridges that provide bike access and walking paths across it but was amazed at how different it looks. I will wait to see the final product before I judge the project. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4421 Registered: 10-2003 |
Nice picture report Rocket city, thanks. "Can you imagine what those workers found on the ground under the shrubs and trees through there?" Other than an occasional ditched car, about the only thing down there was a several hundred rusting empty spray paint cans. Sorry, no liquor bottles or dead bodies." This promises to be a very exciting development and will tie in nicely with the ever more awesome riverwalk. | ||
Kid_dynamite Member Username: Kid_dynamite Post Number: 438 Registered: 06-2007 |
"Sorry, no liquor bottles or dead bodies." Ok, I guess I was imagining things when I went down the embankment by Gratiot past piles of bottles and used needles. I also saw a half dozen homeless people down there. They did not look like they were keeping their area too tidy. I am sure that a few decades of neglect turned up some interesting finds. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 37 Registered: 12-2007 |
which project is this? | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 679 Registered: 11-2005 |
the one between the eastern market and the riverwalk | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 39 Registered: 12-2007 |
Yeah, clearly, is it an urban park? or are they rebuilding the road bed? | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2184 Registered: 10-2006 |
http://www.eastriverfront.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/dequindre_cut_concept.jpg (Message edited by charlottepaul on January 05, 2008) | ||
Chow Member Username: Chow Post Number: 431 Registered: 10-2003 |
A few initial reactions: My first thought was shock. They have completely destroyed the character that the cut had. The vegetation and bridges provided an completely unique experience separate from the city above. Then rationality calmed me. Sight lines in and out are important for safety or at least the perception of safety. This place is not meant to be secret and should be a visible part of the community. Then the potential struck me. The architectural possibilities of the cut are many. Where the concrete remains of the bridges are I see access points, monumental stairs going in and out, with seating... a sort of gathering spot. At those same points well-designed pedestrian bridges could cross the pathway. I see this at each of those points where the bridges used to cross. I see the now barren slopes replanted with wildflowers and trees. And sadly I know that this will not be the case. If the walkway is simply a path through a now mostly tree-less environment it will not be a compelling place. People will not make it a point to use it. I hope the planners have something special up their sleeves; the cut could really be a defining focal point for the community. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4288 Registered: 02-2005 |
It won't do much unless unless the riverfront, Eastern Market, and the neighborhoods NE of E. Market become populated. There also need to be plenty of access points from LP. This is not ideal until there is also transit going through there. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 40 Registered: 12-2007 |
So its kind of like the Highline project that is currently ongoing in New York. Nice concept, but if that was the presentation board used for securing the projects greenlight, I don't know how it made it through the Schematic Design stage. Those are mediocre images at best. Looks like a first year architecture student was given some pencils and told to color. (Message edited by D_mcc on January 05, 2008) | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 52 Registered: 11-2007 |
Of course anything will get more use if there are more people near it, but I think bicyclists will use the path--you can draw them from a broader area, and lots of people like to ride down to the river/Belle Isle. It is an amenity that makes the adjacent neighborhoods that much more attractive. Personally I expect it to make that area more appealing to me as a possible future residential location. | ||
Rbdetsport Member Username: Rbdetsport Post Number: 433 Registered: 11-2005 |
I think inorder to be at its full potential, it must have the western end be a trolley line from Eastern Market (Hopefully a Gratiot Light Rail Line) to the Tricentennial State Park/District. Is thats still in the plans? | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 376 Registered: 06-2005 |
It'll be interesting to see if the Cut becomes part of the '08 marathon course. I also think "Dequindre Cut" one of the best trail names around. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 44 Registered: 12-2007 |
For reference, here is the NY Highline Project, that is somewhat similar to the Dequindre Cut: http://www.thehighline.org/des ign/prelim_design/index.htm | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 35 Registered: 10-2007 |
When I read about this a few years back it was supposedly to come up all the way into the back door of Hamtramck near the lofts that have been redeveloped (north of Milwaukee & The Blvd) into the Dequindre Yard. This section is above grade, roughly from Mack, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. It will make that bike ride to Belle Isle so much more pleasurable than the depressing ride down the Blvd. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1249 Registered: 11-2003 |
It's worth remembering that during the heyday of the Dequindre Cut's use as a RR line, there were virtually no trees in it. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 40 Registered: 10-2007 |
If only this was the initial stretch of that mass transit system out of downtown. "Next stop Hamtramck. Transfer to Blue and Green Lines" | ||
Andyguard73 Member Username: Andyguard73 Post Number: 274 Registered: 03-2006 |
Rocketcity, are you Michi over on skyscraperpage? | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 513 Registered: 04-2006 |
That's me! Good points made above, especially regarding the trees. I think that there will be care taken regarding the landscaping and that more trees will be planted as well as new plants and flowers to make the use as pleasant as possible. I also liked the "scrubbiness" of the old infrastructure. It would serve as a nice contrast to the polished look that planners are envisioning. People want a unique sense of place and a unique experience, so hopefully there will be a nice balance there. I'm sure the graffiti art will add to that element in (hopefully) a good way. I'm not concerned about usage of the corridor. If planned correctly, the DC could be used as an economic development generator connecting two major points of interest: the riverfront (upscale living) to Eastern Market (artsy/organic/diverse living), something that both lifestyles feed off of each other. I also heard that future intentions have the cut extending up to Hamtramck. The expansion would really go hand in hand with an uptick in development from Milwaukee Junction over to the old warehouses and factory area of the old automobile area near the cut. This has an exciting future, that I am sure! | ||
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main Post Number: 1372 Registered: 06-2005 |
I agree wholly with you Rocket. If the city plans this correctly. anything developed near this will profit. I do wonder if there is enough space for development of retail, housing and business along the edge. I feel that if development did occur that it would give off a perception of safety for those who would use it. | ||
Kslice Member Username: Kslice Post Number: 258 Registered: 04-2007 |
The bst part of the pan is the leaving one of the old train lanes open for future transit. I mean it, was made for trains to get around quickly. With a few mods it could work for transit trains. | ||
Genesyxx Member Username: Genesyxx Post Number: 836 Registered: 02-2004 |
This looks like prime locale for any upcoming films to be shot in the city. I envisioned a Blues Brothers chase scene for a split second. LOL | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1251 Registered: 11-2003 |
If the trail/pathway was extended to Hamtramck, there would have to be a bridge constructed to get it over active RR tracks at Milwaukee Jct. Also, starting at Warren or so, the tracks start up again and are active. There would have to be a fence built to separate them from the trail. Shouldn't be a big problem; I think there's ample room in the right of way. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1722 Registered: 07-2004 |
Those were great pictures, Rocket! I pass by there everyday, but havent had the chance to stop and investigate. By the way, are there any pictures anywhere of the cut in its heyday? | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 628 Registered: 06-2005 |
quote: Leoqueen, which heyday? If you mean the past 10 years or so, before this current transformation started, when it became a real center for street art, go to google and google images and enter "Dequindre Cut." You'll find lots of pictures. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1030 Registered: 12-2006 |
Why would you need a bridge to get it over railroad tracks? Hike/bike paths cross railroad tracks all the time; it's called a "railroad crossing" and all you need is short gate-arms and those blinking red lights with the bell. Much cheaper than a bridge. I am not aware, in any event, of any plan to extend it north of where the current project terminates. Does anyone know differently? | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 56 Registered: 11-2007 |
You need a bridge where there are lots of trains (to avoid traffic backups) or trains that you want to go fast (to avoid collisions). Otherwise grade crossings are OK. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 378 Registered: 06-2005 |
Yes, the intent is to continue it further north. But no, there is no need for an at-grade railroad crossing or bridge. I believe the initial thought was to continue it north in the railroad ROW to the Boulevard, then swing east and up along the Hamtramck Dr. ROW, then up Jos. Campau. | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 193 Registered: 08-2006 |
is it still in the works to connect the cut to the proposed midtown loop??? | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1032 Registered: 12-2006 |
Fish, First of all: Hi there! Long time no see. Second: is there any kind of idea when it might be continued further north? I mean are we talking five years or twenty, or is there no active plan at all, just a concept? Third: Echoing Hybridy's question. Sad to see no action on the big plan we all worked out with Nancy & co. in 2006, unless you know something I don't. Cheers, Prof. Scott PS to all others - sorry for inside references, but Fish and I haven't seen each other in a while. | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 194 Registered: 08-2006 |
once we get the cut to extend to new midtown loop we can hook it up to new center at the milwaukee junction you can run the greenway on a infrequently used rail line running sw down to riverside park to connect the the west riverwalk-not the amtrak line thus creating the detroit greenway loop a new center path would run woodward to royal oak-oakland county troy has macomb county is currently phasing out 300 miles of greenways and linear parks sw line would run down to rouge river gateway loop connecting to b2b trail running along huron river past a.a. REGIONAL GREENWAY NETWORK SYSTEM =lots o'prime real estate on a non-motorized greenway i've seen all the studies its possible thats why its my thesis project http://greenways.cfsem.org/pro jects/projects_reader.php?pid= Rouge_River_Gateway_Corridor.t xt http://arborwiki.org/city/B2B_ Trail http://www.macomborchardtrail. com/regional_map.htm | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 608 Registered: 11-2006 |
http://www.modeldmedia.com/fea tures/dequindre.aspx read first phase and link to preserve our parks and then you will have the most recent info i found when working on a Dequindre Cut project for my architecture studio. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 379 Registered: 06-2005 |
Hello Prof Scott, Unfortunately I have no idea on a time frame for this extension right now. Yes, there has been action on the big statewide trails plan but nothings been announced yet. I expect some announcements will be made at the MRPA trails conference on the 22nd of this month. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1034 Registered: 12-2006 |
Thanks Fish. I can't make it to the conference, can you update me? I think you still have my e-mail, if not let me know and I'll get it to you. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 380 Registered: 06-2005 |
I will most definitely update you as well as the entire DY forum. | ||
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 415 Registered: 09-2004 |
You all forget that beyond Warren, the Rat Line/Dequindre Cut is still used and switched weekdays by the Detroit Connecting Railroad, a division of the Adrian and Blissfield. They do an interchange job with the CN at the BOC Yard in Hamtramck and operate two center cab switchers. Unless they can convince the customers to relocate, I doubt they'll make their northward push anytime soon. And, not to be too negative, but we also must remember that somewhere up there, the tracks comes out of the cut and up to grade level, and in a very industrial and not so friendly neighborhood. That being said, the progress I do see on the lower end looks fantastic. What a great way to preserve some of Detroit's history. Hopefully they'll put up some interpretive signage to inform users of the Cut of it's history and heritage. A question: Are they currently demolishing most of those bridges? Or have those been gone for a while and all of a sudden the foundations are now visible since the brush is gone? | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4787 Registered: 10-2004 |
Weren't some of those bridges (say, by St. Joseph) used for pedestrian traffic only? | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 477 Registered: 04-2006 |
I don't know that they were used for anything at all. They were vestiges of the pre-urban renewal street grid in that area, when there were a number of east-west streets crossing the Cut that no longer exist. | ||
Mdoyle Member Username: Mdoyle Post Number: 300 Registered: 10-2006 |
any news ont he midtown loop at all? It was supposed to begin last spring but according to forum member was put on hold due to some mdot project delays. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 381 Registered: 06-2005 |
I found this while looking for something else... The Antietam Bridge over the Dequindre cut has a listing on the National Register of Historic Places -- Description The Dequindre line of the Grand Trunk Railroad corridor, which is depressed below grade, runs perpendicular to the Detroit River. It is just northeast of downtown Detroit, between Orleans and St. Aubin. The route is served by a number of grade separations, including the Antietam Street Bridge, the Chestnut Street Bridge located just to the southeast, and the M-3 (Gratiot Ave.) Bridge to the northwest. Each solid concrete parapet railing of the slightly skewed Antietam Street Bridge has three recessed panels-- two rectangles and a square-- between eight concrete posts. Luminaires are situated at each end of the sidewalk, on the roadway side. The design of the four fixtures features a cylindrical wood pole supported by a metal base. The original metal arms of the luminaires carry newer globes. A metal manhole cover just beyond the northwest end of the bridge is stamped "Public Lighting Commission 1930." The bridge is supported by two piers, which consist of five metal posts on a single concrete base. The posts are braced at the top by arched metal struts. Significance In the first decades of the twentieth century, Detroit experienced substantial industrial growth. By the 1920s, there were over 400 industrial firms operating between Woodward Avenue, which bisects downtown Detroit, and the city's north (Belt Line) and east (Detroit River) boundaries. The city's rather haphazard street plan, the result of incremental platting, impeded traffic flow, particularly on east-west routes. Traffic jams were compounded by the expansion of factories, which sometimes require street closures, and by the network of railroad tracks essential for transporting raw materials and finished goods. In January 1923, in an attempt to improve the situation, the city and the Grand Trunk Railroad launched a ten-year program to build 22 grade separations. Each party paid part of the construction cost. By 1926, Detroit's grade separation program was "fulfilling the expectations of its sponsors," according to John W. Reid of the city's Department of Public Works. By March 1930, sixteen of the crossings were finished, including four surveyed in 1995 as part of the historic bridge inventory: Adelaide, Chestnut, Division, and Gratiot. The bridge at Antietam Street was completed soon thereafter. The Antietam Street Bridge was teamed as a one-way pair with the Chestnut Street Bridge in 1964, when St. Aubin Boulevard was reconstructed. The Grand Trunk Railroad tracks that once ran beneath this bridge extended northwest to connect with a network of other lines. To the southeast, near the shore of the Detroit River, the tracks turned to parallel the river and serve the substantial factories that developed in this area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the Detroit-Michigan Stove Plant, the United States Rubber Company Plant, and the Parke-Davis Laboratories. The railroad also continued along the river to the southwest, terminating at the Grand Trunk's Brush Street Depot in downtown Detroit. The depot and most of the industrial plants have been demolished. One of the pair of tracks that ran in the corridor below the Chestnut Bridge has been removed. The corridor and grade separation structures, however, remain noteworthy products of a significant grade separation effort initiated in response to Detroit's explosive industrial and population growth in the first decades of the twentieth century. The Chestnut and Antietam bridges are eligible for the National Register under Criterion A as well-preserved representations of this effort. The structures and corridor should also be considered for an historic district. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 46 Registered: 10-2007 |
Thanx Toes and Buster Buster, with regard to the active line (Detroit Connectiing RR), I know they have greatly reduced the flow, as they've been ripping out track and ties for the last 10 years. And granted, it may not be the most scenic, but is there room? And what happens once the incinerator goes away? I ask you (since you seem to know something about this), or should I just hop on the bike and find out this spring? Also, St Aubin is reduced to prarie from the Blvd going south because of the incinerator (damn shame how the firebugs& copper thieves ruined that rectory), so I guess if I wanna get to the river I could ride that to Eastern Mkt. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 382 Registered: 06-2005 |
There's room to ride next to the tracks nows. I don't know whether that room is within the railroad right-of-way. As I recall, one section is fenced off by a environmental company. Given the low rail traffic and low speeds, a rail-with-trail might be doable. Then again, as you mentioned, there's nothing wrong with St. Aubin, which is my typical route. | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 5402 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: So why should they not just turn the area into a Historic District then? | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 387 Registered: 06-2005 |
Some sort of guarantee has been made that there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony in June for the Dequindre Cut. Unfortunately I could not get any update on the Midtown loop. | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 531 Registered: 04-2006 |
They just forgot to inform you that it's a ribbon cutting ceremony to inform the public that the Dequindre Cut is officially under construction, and like the Greektown Casino Hotel Tower, is going to take another 10 years to complete. ;) j/k |
