For better or for worse, the plan to bring light rail to the city is history…at least for now, anyways.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting the plans were scrapped in favor of a new system of high-speed city and suburban busses.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Detroit Mayor Dave Bing that doubts Detroit could pay operating costs over the long term for the Woodward Light Rail line because of it and the state’s financial problems swayed him against the plan. 

It was a plan that had been four years in the making, and while it’s tough to see it fall through, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely surprised and not all that disappointed. 

The idea to bring light rail and more public transportation to the city is an idea I have loved and supported since all this talk first began. BUT, the reality is that a line that runs solely up and down Woodward and doesn’t cross north of 8 Mile, just isn’t the best use of scarce funds and resources right now.

There’s been much debate about just exactly who this rail line would be benefitting, and many times it was compared to Detroit’s other infamous rail system the People Mover. I’ve personally talked with many people about the plan over the course of the past couple years, and more often than not, they were less than enthused by the idea. Truth be told, the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel the same.

Detroit doesn’t have the money, or the people, or the right amount of business yet. It comes down to the chicken or the egg debate: do you build the rail to bring the people and the businesses? Or do you wait for the people and the businesses and then build the rail?

I think the latter option is going to be the best option going forward. It will be interesting to see how this decision is received around the city and region.

Read the full story here.

Freep

Plans for the new M1 Woodward light rail project took a big leap forward today and the Free Press has all the deets.

It appears that city officials and the feds were able to come to a consensus on one of the major issues holding the project back: where exactly to place the tracks. And now it appears the rail system will have the best of both worlds with center-running tracks from 8 Mile south to New Center. From Grand Blvd the tracks will diverge and run along the sidewalks all the way into the downtown area where the rails will meet up with the Rosa Parks Transportation Center west of Woodward.

The trains would serve 19 stops along the 9-mile route, including 10 on Woodward between Campus Martius downtown and Grand Boulevard in the New Center — prime locations where the city is banking on transit to stimulate promising clusters of commercial and residential redevelopment.

Those crucial design and route decisions are part of an agreement the city said it has reached with the federal government, a major step forward on the $500-million project to build light rail on Woodward.

The new route will also apparently have more stops than initially planned and will stop within blocks of many of the downtown major attractions including Hart Plaza and the sporting stadiums.

Read the full article here.

Map courtesy of Freep

On Sunday (4/4/10) the Detroit Free Press featured an awesome editorial spread that highlighted all of the major proposals and plans that have been discussed for the city over the past few months.  It seems that people are finally getting serious about rebuilding and while it may seem like a far-fetched pipe dream to some, the vision for a vibrant Detroit in little more than just ten years actually seems fairly realistic in the greater scheme of things.  But then again, I do apparently come from a long line of eternal optimists, so I could be way off on this.  Sure, its going to take a hell of a lot of money, millions if not billions of dollars, and time to get most of these plans up and running, I realize that, but I also realize that we’ve already got some serious investors, Illitch and company, to name just one, that are ready and willing to unleash their dollars to kick-start Detroit redevelopment.  

It’s also worth noting that, as of late, some mysterious, unknown individuals have been buying up cheap property like there’s no tomorrow in and around the downtown area for a project that very well may turn out to be the new sports arena that will house the Wings and possibly the Pistons.  We’ll keep you posted on that!

A second thing worth noting, and one that probably won’t be too seriously discussed for at least another 4-5 years, is the possibility of Detroit hosting the summer olympic games in 2020.  The plan is actually to have, for the first time, two countries host the games at the same time.  Both Detroit and Windsor would act as duel hosts.  Now if you thought the aforementioned stuff was an insane pipe-dream, then I must obviously be off my rocker on this one.  But here me out.  It almost seems like a ‘perfect storm’ type opportunity here.  By 2020, if things go relatively as planned, Detroit will undoubtedly be the biggest comeback story of the past century and what better way to top it all off than to have the winning bid for the 2020 summer games.

I realize it may seem like a long shot now, but by the time the 2020 games roll around it will have been nearly 25 years since a city in North America hosted the summer games, not to mention the fact that Detroit’s 2020 bid will be their 8th overall bid for the games, the most of any other unsuccessful city.  It sounds to me like Detroit is due for a win.

But anyways, back on topic, heres a few of the highlights from the Free Press spread for convenience sake:

• Probably one of the most important aspects of Detroit’s rebirth: Education is HUGE! We’re talking a complete overall of DPS with smaller, more modernized facilities and a 90% graduation rate by 2020.
• The M1 light rail project connecting Downtown to the New Center Area.
• Demolition of nearly 80,000 vacant houses.
• The latest and greatest in the green movement: Urban farming.
• $280 million renovation and expansion of Cobo Hall.
• In the end, its all about a smaller, smarter, more efficient Detroit

See the complete list plus all the maps and diagrams your heart desires here: http://www.freep.com/article/20100404/NEWS01/4040517/1318

Indulge yourselves, if you so choose, in the links below to the various Free Press articles that discuss the proposed plans and investments in schools, mass transit and a second bridge to Canada, among other things, plus some thoughts from Mitch Albom and the like.

What Detroit could be in 10 years: http://www.freep.com/article/20100404/OPINION01/4040518/1318/Looking-at-Detroit-in-2020

Mitch Albom Editorial: http://www.freep.com/article/20100404/COL01/4040471/1318/

The Detroit that could be Editorial: http://www.freep.com/article/20100404/OPINION01/4040423/1318/

Last month PBS aired a documentary highlighting the efforts of several community leaders and private developers to introduce a comprehensive plan for mass transit in the Motor City.  The plan—dubbed the M1 light rail project—would focus on implementing an approximately three-and-a-half mile long route down Woodward Avenue.  The route would include 12 stops starting from Hart Plaza, near the river, and end just north of Grand Boulevard near the New Center area.  

Primarily private investors, including big Detroit names like Roger Penske, Mike Illitch and Peter Karmanos Jr. to name just a few, are funding the plan.  The private funding will allow for federal matching grants to be rewarded in the near future in order to fund and complete the second stage of the project. 

When compared to other major cities like Chicago or New York, Detroit is severely lacking in regards to mass transit and has been lagging in that area for several decades.  Understandably, being that Detroit is the Motor City, it only made sense that the personal automobile was promoted as the main, ideal form of transportation in and around the city for so many years as it was.  But, these times, they are a-changin’, and it is inconceivable now to think that the city will ever be rebuilt successfully without realizing that there has to be a better way developed for getting around.

Being a freshman in college, while living in a city without a car, I have found it absolutely imperative to have a viable way to get around town.  Much to my chagrin though the bus system does provide that convenience for me.  It is both a cheap and efficient way to get around in the absence of personal transportation.  And, even if I did have my car, trying to find a place to park around campus is definitely less than an enjoyable activity, not to mention a costly endeavor as well.  Now visualize living in Detroit, a city almost 10 times the size of East Lansing while trying to get around without a car.  How are we ever going to put people back to work in Detroit if they cannot even find a way to get to their job in the first place? 

Many opponents to the M1 project have compared it to the people mover downtown claiming that its nothing more than a pipedream and it simply won’t be enough of a solution in terms of solving the problems posed by a lack of mass transit.  Simply put though, the M1 is just the beginning of a much bigger, thoroughly planned-out project to eventually connect the city of Detroit to other metro areas including Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and the airport in Romulus.  This plan will also bring much needed revitalization to a stretch of Woodward Avenue that has long been stuck in the “emerging” phase, as CNN put it, for quite some time now in terms of business development and such.

With Detroit area philanthropists stepping up ready and willing to set this into motion in a city that’s already strapped for cash, it seems increasingly apparent that now is the time to begin anew.  Granted, it may seem like a small aspect of Detroit’s problems but it seems, at least, like a logical starting point.  Finally in the city of Detroit we are seeing a sizable number of people who are standing up with more than just empty promises and futile visions of what could have been but instead with tangible plans for a rebirth and a new beginning.  Stay tuned for more and feel free to sound off and make comments by clicking on “Comments” below.

Also be sure to check out the video expert below from the PBS doc “Blueprint America”