Detroit Free Press: Light rail, commuter trains, high-speed buses envisioned for Detroit

Light rail, commuter trains, high-speed buses envisioned for Detroit

BY SUZETTE HACKNEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


The intent was to start small: Build a 3-mile light-rail line that would run from Hart Plaza to the New Center in Detroit.

From there, stakeholders would try to build upon the system, ultimately turning it into a $10-billion system of light rail, commuter trains and high-speed buses spanning metro Detroit.

That start-small idea got a big boost Monday when Detroit Mayor Dave Bing received a gleaming endorsement from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and assurances that the Obama administration is supportive of extending the light rail -- a $425-million project -- that would run from the heart of downtown Detroit to the suburbs and stimulate a transit system for the region.

LaHood said the federal government has committed to conducting an environmental impact study on the feasibility of the project, which is a major bureaucratic hurdle to getting the project on track. And if all goes well with the study, construction could begin on the rail line by next year.

A private group working to bring rail to Woodward has arranged about $125 million in private funding for a Woodward rail line between Jefferson and the New Center from business leaders -- including Roger Penske, Mike and Marian Ilitch, Dan Gilbert and Peter Karmanos -- and organizations such as the Kresge Foundation and the Downtown Development Authority. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20100803/NEWS05/8030363/1318/Light-rail-commuter-trains-high-speed-buses-envisioned