Chestnut Street Bridge (Detroit)
The Chestnut Street Bridge is located where Chestnut Street passes over the Dequindre Cut in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
History
By the 1920s, there were over 400 industries operating on Detroit's east side. However, the combination of the city's haphazard street plan, the expansion of large factories, and the substantial network of rail tracks conspired to slow traffic within the city, particularly in the east-west direction. In 1923, the city of Detroit and Grand Trunk railroad began a plan to build 22 grade separations; both parties agreed to share the cost.One of the tracks to be regraded was the line paralleling St. Aubin. These tracks ran from the northwest, where they connected with a network of other lines, to the southeast, where the tracks turned to parallel the river and supplied a number of large factories, including the Detroit-Michigan Stove Plant, the United States Rubber Company Plant, and the Parke-Davis Laboratories. The tracks terminated at the Brush Street Depot in downtown Detroit.
By March 1930, 16 of the crossings of what now is known as the "Dequindre Cut" were finished, including the Chestnut Street bridge. The nearby Antietam Avenue Bridge was completed soon thereafter. In 1964, the Antietam Avenue Bridge and the Chestnut Street Bridge were teamed as a one-way pair. In the 1980s, the railway was abandoned, and ownership changed hands.
In 2005, construction started on the conversion of the Dequindre Cut into a rail trail. The first 1.2 miles, including the portion under the Chestnut Street Bridge, was opened to the public in 2009.