Happy early birthday to our Axios Detroit member Haydn Kramer!
💰 Situational awareness:Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders announced a budget deal last night to avoid a state government shutdown.
- As part of the agreement, the House passed legislation to impose a 24% wholesale tax on marijuana, Bridge Michigan reports.
Today’s newsletter is 843 words — a 3-minute read. 1 big thing: Freeway caps would link downtownBy Annalise Frank
A concept for the central cap park along Woodward Avenue. Renderings: Courtesy of Downtown Detroit Partnership
A freeway cap project is proposed for I-75 to allow pedestrians to stroll between downtown Detroit and the arena district or Brush Park neighborhood.
Why it matters: Building walkable covers over I-75 would piece together segments of the city divided by the depressed highway, and create more usable public space.
State of play: The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) is leading the planning effort alongside the Michigan Department of Transportation and the city.
- The DDP will share more details about the project, explain its necessity and answer public questions during a virtual meeting5:30-6:30pm Thursday.
Zoom in: The DDP is studying a section of I-75 just north of the downtown core, between 3rd Avenue and Brush Street.
- A tentative plan with three caps over the highway, each filled with public park space, came out of community engagement sessions last year, DDP urban evolution strategist James Fidler tells Axios.
A view looking south toward downtown, with three proposed cap locations: the east one, between Brush and John R.; central, between Woodward and Park; and west, between 2nd and 3rd.
Between the lines: Global infrastructure firm AECOM is starting a yearlong study to assess the project’s feasibility, using a $2 million federal grant.
- AECOM previously helped rebuild a highway cap in Oak Park, according to the DDP.
What’s next: The DDP expects to finalize construction engineering in 2026 or 2027, and start construction in 2028 at the earliest.
- The feasibility study will include a better idea of cost estimates. Funding will likely be a mix of federal, state, local and private dollars.
Plus: This is a separate segment of I-75 from the recently paused I-375 project that would have rebuilt a section of highway leading to the riverfront east of the central business district.
Share with an urban planning nerd 2. Takeaways from Kinloch’s town hallBy Annalise Frank
The Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.’s town hall. Photo: Annalise Frank/Axios
Detroit’s mayoral candidatescontinue meeting voters in town halls and taking audience questions as Election Day approaches.
Driving the news: We attended the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.’s Sept. 20 town hall at Anderson Memorial Church of God in Christ, where the Triumph Church senior pastor spelled out how Detroit is at a “pivotal crossroad” and in need of great change.
Three of our takeaways:
🏡 Not really affordable:Kinloch pointed to long-held criticism about housing for Detroiters — that units here designated “affordable” aren’t actually affordable for families.
- His platform includes a goal to build, preserve and renovate 10,000 housing units.
Context: Affordable housing measures are based on federal rules that use regional median income figures significantly higher than Detroit’s. Still, there are many barriers to low-rent housing construction.
- “Don’t tell me affordable housing is $1,500, $1,600, $1,700, $1,800 a month when the average working-class family in the city of Detroit ain’t even making $800 a week,” Kinloch said.
💸 Big business over residents: “Budget is about priority, and for too long, we’ve prioritized big business. It’s time now to prioritize the residents of the city of Detroit,” he said.
- Kinloch added that all residents are overburdened by taxes, while tax incentives are used only to benefit select areas of the city.
👀 Land bank accountability: City Council recently called for a state audit of the often-criticizedDetroit Land Bank Authority.
- “Why do you need the state to come in to audit the land bank when you got the power to do that sitting at the (council) table?” Kinloch said.
- He thinks City Council should have looked deeper into the land bank long ago instead of approving its budgets “year after year.”
Go deeper: Town hall takeaways from fellow mayoral candidate and City Council President Mary Sheffield. 3. The Grapevine: You heard it here 
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
💡 Utility assistance for Detroiters struggling to pay bills has not been easy to obtain. Local agencies that typically provide emergency help say they are out of money or too short-staffed to process applications. (Outlier)
🗳️ Local Black political leaders are supporting state Rep. Donavan McKinney in his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in next year’s Democratic primary.
- “We have not had someone who understands (us),” former Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence said. (WDET)
🏈 Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, a first-round pick last year who has struggled this season, will have a reduced role in Sunday’s home game against the Browns. (Free Press)
A MESSAGE FROM COMMUNITY ACTION FOR RESPONSIBLE HOSPITALSMichigan taxpayers pay more for 340B hospitals’ markups
340B was meant to help communities. Instead, too many are acting like for-profit corporations — exploiting the federal 340B program and enriching executives.
No rules or oversight. Just higher costs for families, small businesses and taxpayers.
Say NO to the 340B abuse bill. 4. U of M rises, MSU fallsBy Joe Guillen
Data: U.S. News & World Report; Table: Axios Visuals
Michigan’s top universitiesremained entrenched in the top 100 in this year’s U.S. News rankings.
The big picture: The annual rankings evaluate nearly 1,700 higher education institutions on 17 measures of academic quality, per U.S. News.
Zoom in: U of M, at No. 20, is the state’s high-ranking institution, climbing one spot from last year.
- Michigan State is No. 64, dropping from 63rd.
- Wayne State stayed at No. 179 and the University of Detroit Mercy jumped six spots to No. 183.
A message from Community Action for Responsible Hospitals
Michigan taxpayers pay more for 340B hospitals’ markups. Say NO to the 340B abuse bill.
A MESSAGE FROM COMMUNITY ACTION FOR RESPONSIBLE HOSPITALSMichigan’s tax-exempt hospitals are getting rich
Across Michigan, big hospitals have turned a safety-net program into a cash machine.
They buy discounted 340B drugs, mark up prices and split profits with pharmacy benefit managers and Wall Street middlemen. In fact, studies show Michigan hospitals routinely inflate drug prices 10–20 times.
Our picks:
☕ Joe is watching the Ryder Cup bright and early this morning!
📖 Annalise finished “The Reformatory” and would highly recommend it.
Edited by Tyler Buchanan.
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