AASHTO Journal - Michigan DOT Conducting Pedestrian Bridge Survey

The Michigan Department of Transportation wants the public to weigh in on which state-owned pedestrian bridges in the metropolitan Detroit area should be prioritized for rehabilitation, reconstruction, or consolidation.

[Above photo by the Michigan DOT]

The agency noted that most pedestrian bridges in and around Detroit were built in the 1950s and 1960s, in the glory days of the American auto industry and Motown. Now those bridges are near the end of their useful lives, and some of them already have been closed.

Michigan DOT noted it doesn’t have enough money to repair or replace all the bridges. As the closures and the costs to repair or rebuild those bridges piled up, the department decided to take a strategic approach by launching a Pedestrian Bridge Study.

An agency team is compiling technical bridge data and active transportation traffic counts to determine the condition and utilization of each bridge. Meanwhile, the department is soliciting public input to give planners a full picture of which bridges are the most important, noted James VanSteel, Metro Region transportation planner for Michigan DOT.

The focus of the study are 77 state-owned bridges in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties – including 55 structures within the city limits of Detroit. Of those 77 bridges, 21 are rated in “good” condition; 42 are “fair,” nine are “poor,” and five were closed because they failed inspection or had damage from truck strikes.

“Residents who use these bridges have made their importance to local communities clear and have voiced support for more transparency into MDOT’s plans for maintaining safe pedestrian and bike access,” VanSteel said. However, the agency “does not have dedicated funding available to address all the needs for these legacy pedestrian structures,” he added.

Those needs include reconstruction to bring the bridges up to Federal Highway Administration and American with Disabilities Act standards.

The department has held six open houses in the three counties to present the public with information about the bridges and to listen to residents’ comments. Michigan DOT wants residents to take a survey to share which bridges they use, how often they use them, and if they use the bridges to get to work, school, places of worship, healthcare facilities, or for recreation and exercise.

Michigan DOT has also created an advisory committee from communities that have at least one bridge in the study, and the department is meeting with people from local and county governments, businesses, advocacy groups, and schools. The agency wants to gather local input so it can “better understand the unique context and community priorities in particular locations,” VanSteel said.

The department will combine all the input with technical data, traffic counts, and analysis to create a “strategic investment plan,” he noted. “The information we gather will help the department make the best use of its limited funds to identify priority investments, explore opportunities for consolidation, and work proactively with communities to maintain connectivity,” he said.

The survey ends October 31. Michigan DOT expects to complete the study by summer 2026, when the team will make recommendations to the agency and offer “informational resources for the public to better understand the condition, usage, and local priorities for each bridge,” VanSteel explained.

While the study is limited to the Detroit area, he said it exemplifies how “Michigan DOT and its local partners understand that pedestrian bridges are key links in the connectivity of regional active transportation networks.”