West Grand Boulevard, Riverside Park Plaza & Promenade

Located in the shadows of the Ambassador Bridge, Riverside Park is by far Detroit’s busiest park. The new entrance plaza and promenade, as well as improvements to West Grand Boulevard as it approached the park, are part of a series of grand improvement projects underway to connect this Southwest Detroit recreation area with two greenways as improvements in the 29-acre park are also completed.

In the final series of park renovations that began in 2018, the city upgraded 13 acres of Riverside Park along the eastern edge of West Grand Boulevard. Included in that effort was the vision for a gateway into the park that welcomed vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists off of West Grand Boulevard into a “Shared Plaza” space that transitions into a grand Park Promenade.

The spaces serve to prioritize those using non-motorized transportation; organize the drop-off area for vehicles; create a central tree-lined pedestrian walkway to the river and generally transform a space that was previously an expanse of pavement and railroad into a gateway appropriate to this well-loved and utilized public space.

The promenade will link up with the western section of the Detroit RiverWalk.