The following clip comes from the Detroit Free Press:
The ambitious plan for a light-rail line on Woodward Avenue between downtown Detroit and 8 Mile has been scrapped in favor of a system of city and suburban buses, several officials briefed on the decision told the Free Press today.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Detroit Mayor Dave Bing that doubts that Detroit could pay operating costs over the long term for the light-rail line because of its and the state’s financial problems swayed him against the plan. The decision came despite earlier public support that included LaHood’s 2010 visit to Detroit to award a $25-million grant to get the project moving.
LaHood, President Barack Obama’s top transportation official, met last week with Bing and Snyder, and the sides agreed that the better option is a system of rapid-transit buses operating in dedicated lanes on routes from downtown to and through the suburbs along Gratiot, Woodward and Michigan avenues and along M-59, the officials said.
…The decision to scrap the light-rail plan outraged Megan Owens, director of the Detroit advocacy group Transportation Riders United, who said she had heard rumblings in recent weeks that “the project was in trouble” in large part because there was no dedicated source of operating money, estimated to be at least $10 million a year, for the rail line after it was built.
Supporters said the light-rail line would spur major residential and commercial redevelopment along Woodward well in excess of what it would cost to build the line. “We’re basically throwing away a $3-billion economic development investment,” Owens said. “I’m outraged Mayor Bing would let this happen on his watch.”
This is bad news for Detroit, but I don’t know how unexpected it is. With Snyder preparing to take the city over and impose even more drastic austerity measures, I knew it was unlikely that the state would come through and guarantee operating expenses. I think it’s become pretty clear that the state doesn’t want to put another dollar into Detroit. I don’t see how the state of Michigan can be successful without a functional Detroit, but I guess we’ve decided to take that chance.
update: According to Carmine Palombo of SEMCOG, the planned Detroit – Ann Arbor commuter train is moving ahead despite the cancellation of the Woodard Avenue project.
19 Comments
The inhabitants of Detroit are, by and large, black democrats. Does it really surprise anyone to hear that our Governor is cutting off the spigot?
Light rail sounds so neat, but really is very expensive to start a system from scratch. Bus rapid transit (BRT) to many people sounds almost…. disgusting, but it is so much cheaper to build. But just look at the photo on this link for Bogata – http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/BRT_Bogota.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/10/24/dot-announces-five-bus-rapid-transit-corridors/&h=399&w=500&sz=201&tbnid=2yw07ZvmsQHEJM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=119&zoom=1&docid=6uJhS_Yg4b6dNM&sa=X&ei=4x_oToffJKjV0QG9x6CKCg&ved=0CG4Q9QEwBQ&dur=1654
It is just like a light rail system except there are no rails and the busses are very clean and modern. Even the station looks good.
for a “businessman” snyder doesn’t seem to know much about fucking investment
Investment is happening, just not in Detroit.
white people won’t ride buses. we prefer the luxury of trains.
Buses could work. It just seems antiquated. When I think “city of the future”, I don’t think bus. I think train. I think Portland, Washington D.C., etc. I liked this Woodward rail project because it was something big and ambitious. Not only would it tie in to the Ann Arbor – Detroit passenger line that’s being developed, and make it more attractive/functional, but it would also send the signal that Detroit was fighting to regain its place among the important American cities. Instead, it looks as though we’re going to cut and run on Detroit. I find that depressing.
I should add that I’m a white person and I take the bus.
I happen to agree that a rail system going up and down Woodward to the edge of the city would have not given much bang for the buck, would have been a tough sell, and would be a project where mass transit did not serve the masses. Buses in dedicated lanes that are physically separted from the rest of traffic is a much better plan. I still think that making something Detoit centric is unwise. It is beyond repair unless and until the city shrinks in geographic size so that it can be serviced properly. It is an unsustainable model right now. Putting in a new train won’t fix any fundamentals. I am not sure, Mark, that I agree with you final statement …I don’t see how the state of Michigan can be successful without a functional Detroit … it hasn’t been functional for a long time. There is not one single company that couldn’t pick up and move out of the city right now if given similar tax breaks that many of these companies are granted. I am not saying it is right, I’m just saying that cutting losses would kill the state.
that is ‘wouldn’t’ kill the state.
How will this impact the Ann Arbor to Detroit rail line? I imagine this doesn’t help.
I am loosing any hope I had for a Detroit renascence… all I can say is I am sooo glad I moved from Detroit to the A2 area. Best choice ever.
I’m not a fan of Snyder, but I don’t blame him for this. The city has proven again and again that it’s not capable of managing itself. Just look at the crime and corruption around the Kilpatrick administration. The place is a mess, from top to bottom. I don’t agree about putting 60 kids in an classroom, but I think that, in this instance, the beast does need to be starved. Maybe, in ten years, if they’ve made steps to right-size the city and increase transparency, then we should put it back on the table. But, until then, I agree that we should look for less costly solutions.
Carmine Palombo of SEMCOG is quoted as saying Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter train is moving ahead despite cancellation of Woodard Ave. light rail.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/despite_woodward_light_rails_d.html
Speaking of buses, and anyone heard whether or not signs of arson were found at the Detroit Transportation Depot, where, last week, eight Detroit city buses were destroyed? Given that the city was involved in a contentious battle with city bus mechanics at the time, it seemed arson might be to blame.
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/national/detroit-bus-terminal-is-burning
Tom Walsh in the Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/article/20111214/COL06/111214015/Tom-Walsh-Detroit-s-do-or-die-moment-is-at-hand
Mark: “I don’t see how the state of Michigan can be successful without a functional Detroit, but I guess we’ve decided to take that chance.”
Note that whether or not Detroit is functional hardly depends on the M-1 line/project. M-1 was an exciting and ambitious prospect, and surely would have had many beneficial effects, but the price was enormous (would you believe FIVE HUNDRED MILLION $$, per the latest estimates), and it in no way addressed Detroit’s fundamental problems.
Now that it is history, why not take a look at transportation technology that is REALLY futuristic for a large-population, resource-limited world grappling with global warming? I refer, of course, to the numerous brilliant concepts for elevated bike path systems and monorails, costing perhaps 1/100th as much as M-1, and delivering at least 50% (if not 85%) of the benefits and value. In fact, the whole M-1 strip from waterfront to Royal Oak could probably be constructed, as an elevated bike path system, for less than the $10 million cost of MAINTENANCE of M-1 for an entire year! i.e. the entire CAPITAL cost might be less than one-year maintenance of M-1. The most brilliant single idea, I’ll wager, is BTS’s Transglide system (biketrans.com), which has elevated tubes with positive air pressure in both directions, allowing cyclists to cruise along at 20-25 MPH with no more effort than 10 MPH unassisted. Fantastic idea! Would that our “leaders” begin anticipating, holistically, real human needs vis a vis looming economic, resource and environmental realities.
Elevated bike lanes/paths/tubes, sky-cycle-ways,
human-powered monorails, etc.:
http://cooltubes.com
http://www.biketrans.com
http://skyridetechnology.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skytran
http://shweeb.com/index.php?m=transport
http://www.greencarmagazine.net/2009/09/human-powered-intercity-monorail-transit-system-proposal-and-working-model/
http://www.thepurehands.org/cycleways/
http://www.velo-city.ca/files/06-04-16_Velo-city_Toronto%20Star_Jennifer%20Wells.pdf
http://www.velo-city.ca/files/velo-city%20-%20National%20Post%20-%20January%2012,%202006.pdf
http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/2009/11/23/commuter_cycling_tube_elevated/
Did someone say MONORAIL?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_yLodI1CQ
Maybe not completely dead after all.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120106/NEWS05/120106043/Bing-Snyder-back-new-plan-for-3-mile-light-rail-line-on-Woodward?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
From Crain’s Detroit Business:
More: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120205/FREE/302059999