Case Study

Pedestrian Bridge Sealing over I-696 in Michigan

Pedestrian Bridge Sealing over I-696 in Michigan

Pages 2 Pages

Problem Interstate 696 (I-696) in Michigan is an east-west bypass route that detours around Detroit through some of its northern suburbs. One of these suburbs, Oak Park, has a large Orthodox Jewish community. When plans for I-696 were being made in the 1950s, the Orthodox Jews of Oak Park requested that the design accommodate members of their pedestrian-dependent community. As a result, a series of 700-foot wide landscaped plazas were incorporated into the design of tunnels through which I-696 passes. The landscaped plazas cross the freeway, allowing members of the Jewish community to walk to syn- agogue on the sabbath and on holidays. The pedestrian bridges were successful until the Michigan Department of Trans- portation (MDOT) found themselves with a serious icicle problem in the

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