Private, City Rail Plans Seek Federal Funds as Single Project in Detroit

[marmar]

via MassTransitMag:



Private, City Rail Plans Seek Federal Funds as Single Project in Detroit

Bill Shea
Crain's Detroit Business


MICHIGAN - Organizers behind a joint public and private two-phase plan to build a light-rail line on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, whose key details are still being worked out, say they intend to seek federal aid this year as a single $425 million project.

Doing so allows the $125 million that privately funded M1 Rail Inc. will spend on a 3.4-mile, 12-stop route from Hart Plaza to New Center to be used as local matching funds required for the city’s plan to run the line to Eight Mile Road, said Matt Cullen, CEO of M1 Rail.

Construction could begin this time next summer and last 12 to 18 months, Cullen said, but he cautioned that was dependent on a variety of factors, such as determining if Woodward Avenue will have to be rebuilt.

He also said it hasn’t been decided if the M1 Rail line will run along the center of Woodward or in the second lane with curb-side stops that extend to that lane. He described the project as being in the conceptual design phase.

“We haven’t defined the project yet,” he said.

The city’s plan, called Detroit Transit Options for Growth, called for center-of-street service. That plan, when unveiled two years ago, was for service from the Foxtown/Comerica Park area to New Center at a cost of $371 million. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/web/online/Top-Transit-News/Private--City-Rail-Plans-Seek-Federal-Funds-as-Single-Project-in-Detroit/3$9453