Iron Belle Trail Gateway Feature Rises In Detroit

The Downriver Linked Greenways and Iron Belle Trail Gateway Feature recently rose from the concrete in the shadow of Fort Street Bridge Park in Southwest Detroit. Friends of the Rouge is a member of the Fort Rouge Gateway Partnership (FRoG Group) that spearheaded the development of Fort Street Bridge Park Phase I that commemorates the 1932 Ford Hunger March. The park includes interpretive signage, green infrastructure elements like porous pavers and a rain garden. Fixed at the foot of the new Fort Street Bridge and on the boarders of Dearborn and Detroit, the park has become a valued community asset for neighborhood gatherings and fishing. The new gateway feature marks a connection point to the neighboring network of trails including the Joe Louis Greenway, Rouge Gateway Greenway, and the Lower Rouge River Water Trail. Friends of the Rouge and the FRoG Group are working to develop Fort Street Bridge Park Phase II that will significantly increase green space at the park, renovate and expand the fishing deck, and install a universally accessible kayak launch. Stay tuned!