From The Detroit News
Transportation chief to give details in Detroit stop today
Light rail down Woodward will get a boost today when local and federal officials announce the clearance of major regulatory hurdles for the public transit project.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and private funding partners are expected to announce plans to do a required environmental study, clearing the way for construction of the light rail project.
Megan Owens, executive director of Detroit public transit advocacy organization Transit Riders United, said light rail on Woodward would offer a “critical kick start” to building out a larger regional system over the coming decade.
A group called M-1 Rail, which includes big-name donors like Mike and Marion Ilitch, Roger Penske and Peter Karmanos, attracted $125 million in funding, which will be used as matching funds by the city when it eventually builds its portion of the $425 million project.
The project also was awarded a $25 million federal stimulus grant in February.
Owens said the early buy-in to the light-rail concept by Detroit’s influential business community lends weight to project’s viability. Many of the project’s supporters are looking to Portland, Ore.’s MAX light-rail system as a model for transit-based redevelopment. There, housing, retail and entertainment districts have clustered around a light rail system integrated with the city’s bus routes, and use of vehicle alternatives has increased.
“There’s prime opportunity in Detroit to replicate that kind of success,” Owens said.
LaHood tagged along with President Barack Obama on his Friday trip to Michigan, where they toured two auto plants — one in Detroit and one in Hamtramck — and touted the nascent recovery of Michigan’s backbone automotive manufacturing sector.
The Woodward Light Rail project, backers hope, will eventually spur a $10 billion regional investment in a comprehensive public transit system for Metro Detroit with light rail at its core.
The Detroit Department of Transportation studied a number of potential light rail lines in the city and announced that the Woodward line would be the most logical starting point.
The line is slated to run from Jefferson Avenue up Woodward to New Center in the first phase, and to Eight Mile Road in a later phase. It will be the first new rail-based public transit project to Michigan since the 1987 opening of the Detroit People Mover.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100802/METRO05/8020360/-1/rss29#ixzz0vTC1EfR0