Detroit is a shrinking city, and has been for 70 years. Cities can really only afford to maintain everything if they keep growing, staying flat isn't enough eit

Detroit is a shrinking city, and has been for 70 years. Cities can really only afford to maintain everything if they keep growing, staying flat isn't enough either. A lot of people don't care about a pedestrian bridge. A lot of politicians don't really care about something unless it helps them get reelected. Or put another way, unless something bad happens while they are in office they can kick the can down the road, maintenance is boring and can be put off for decades in many cases without an emergency. So a pedestrian bridge is on the bottom of a long list Also most 70 year old concrete bridges are fine, even as they go past their original designed lifespan with deferred maintenance. But an increasing number of concrete bridges will need major refurbishment or to be replaced entirely. Something like 40% of bridges in the US are past their original lifespan