A new proposal to address the lack of a regional transportation system in metropolitan Detroit. The plan for light rail has been scrapped in favor of buses like this one used in LA and Las Vegas., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
December 14, 2011
Light rail backers push Woodward line as bus system proposed
By DAVID SHEPARDSON AND TOM GREENWOOD / The Detroit News
Washington— Backers of the M1 light rail proposal down Woodward Avenue say they won't give up the effort to bring the mass transit system to Detroit.
In a letter to Detroit and Michigan elected leaders and in comments to local media, those that have committed $100 million to bring light rail down the region's main thoroughfare say they won't give up.
Meanwhile, federal, state and city leaders are backing a 34-station, four-line rapid regional transit authority after scrapping a proposed $500 million light-rail line up Woodward Avenue.
But some Michigan members of Congress still want to see light-rail or have proposed changes in the bus plan obtained by The Detroit News. Michigan's Legislature and suburban leaders will also have to sign off to make the deal a reality .
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave Michigan members of Congress a two-page document detailing the proposed map that would include nine stations each in Oakland and Macomb counties and 16 in Wayne County.
He told the Michigan Democrats that Detroit didn't have the required funding to make light rail work — either in matching funds or long-term operations.
LaHood spent an hour talking to the Michigan delegation about the decision by the state and city to shift to buses. He told reporters afterward the $25 million in light rail funding can be shifted to the revised plan. "We believe (the $25 million) grant can be used for their plan — for the new system, the new idea for regional transportation," he said. "We gave them a very detailed briefing."
LaHood, who was accompanied by Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff, declined to explain why Michigan was moving away from light rail and moving to buses. "I'm not going to get into that at this moment," LaHood said.
According to the document obtained by The Detroit News, three lines would form the "Metro Connection Tri-County Triangle" stretching from downtown Detroit to M-59 in Macomb County and up Woodward to Birmingham. A connecting line would run east-west through Sterling Heights and along M-59.
A fourth line would stretch from Detroit Metropolitan Airport through Dearborn and connect with the triangle lines.
It's not clear how much the line would cost or when construction would begin. But, the Michigan state Legislature must approve a regional bus plan.
Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said the route should be altered to go through Pontiac.
He noted the rapid bus system isn't a typical bus system. "It looks like trains that are on wheels," Peters said. "We can't lose the excitement over light rail so we've got to make sure that folks who believed in light rail come together and we have consensus."
The bus system is modeled on rapid bus systems in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, said Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder "are in full accord that they are going to cease efforts on light rail."
"The city of Detroit in its current difficulties does not have the funding capability to assure long-term funding as the law requires of the light rail project," Dingell said.
Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, said he's still hopeful light rail will be part of the transportation solution for the Detroit area.
"We need light rail in addition to Bus Rapid Transit in Metro Detroit. Both are essential to an effective transportation system and to create jobs. I'm reaching out to Mayor Bing, Gov. Snyder and federal officials to see what avenues we can take to ensure funding and support for light rail projects," Clarke said.
Sen. Carl Levin criticized the decision to kill Detroit's planned light rail line in favor of more high-speed buses. He had won language that passed Congress recently to keep the project going.
"I think they ought to hold off until they hear from the group" of investors that raised $100 million for the project, the Detroit Democrat said. "Just for the mayor to kind of make a decision without involving them, it seems to be is not the right way."
He handed LaHood a letter from the supporters of the M-1 Rail program including chair Roger Penske, vice chair Dan Gilbert, M-1 CEO Matt Cullen and Kresge Foundation CEO Richard Rapson.
The letter urged the city and state to at least build part of the project. "We have all put a great deal into the Woodward Corridor project on the belief that it would be transformational for the city of Detroit and region," they wrote. "We should not walk away from it without having every confidence it is the necessary and right decision."
"Members of the Kresge team working on the Woodward light-rail project spoke with Mayor Dave Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder about the project late last week and were aware of this (the bus rapid transit) direction," said Laura Trudeau, senior program director for the Kresge Foundation in Detroit.
Levin wants the city and federal government to at least build the first 3.4-mile segment of the planned 9.3 mile, 19-stop line up Woodward Avenue to Eight Mile. That segment could be hooked into the bus system line.
The Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments, a regular player in transportation projects throughout the region, was not a part of discussions on the Woodward corridor.
"My understanding is that it was an extremely high level committee that consisted of only LaHood, the governor and Mayor Bing," said Carmine Palombo, SEMCOG's director of transportation programs. "That's the committee."
Late Wednesday, however, Snyder's office sought to clarify the decision-making process involved in the Woodward announcement. The decision, spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said, was part of the work of the Regional Transportation Authority of Southeast Michigan - not part of the discussions surrounding the M-1 project.
"The state was not involved in that piece of it (the light rail discussions)," Wurfel said. "We were involved in the work of the regional transit authority… From the governor's standpoint, he was just focused on trying to address this 40-year-old problems of regional transportation."
The Regional Transportation Authority included representatives from Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.
In addition, Wurfel said the decision on bus rapid transit does not preclude work on the M-1 project.
For Palombo and SEMCOG, being in the loop might have been nice, but he's not sure it would have made much difference in the long run.
"Would I have liked to have been involved in the committee where this was discussed, yes," he said. "Was there anything that we were going to be able to add that would have changed the financial picture facing the state and the city, no."
Detroit has struggled for more than 80 years trying to establish a subway or rail system. In 1976, President Gerald Ford offered southeast Michigan $600 million for a rail system. The money was never used.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, said he thought light rail could be revived..
"I firmly believe that the use of high speed light-rail needs to be looked at in depth before scrapping it," Conyers said."High speed rail should be our first option for major transit, if at all possible.Even though the option of rapid bus transit is a practical first step in providing transit options for the Detroit Region, it is not the ultimate solution."
LaHood has pledged millions if southeast Michigan can agree on a regional transit plan, but he declined to say how much.
Levin called the investors "angels for our city."
Snyder and others have pushed for a cheaper rapid bus line.
Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, said light rail wouldn't go forward in Detroit because of a change in leadership. "New governor, new mayor."
Kildee noted that when he taught in Detroit in 1954, Detroit was talking about light rail.
Bing on Wednesday called the change "a positive thing."
"A light rail system 3.8 miles up Woodward doesn't speak to regional transportation, not when 60 percent of the employed of the city work outside the city," he said.
He addressed the mass transit developments following a ceremony honoring 16 Detroit Department of Transportation workers who risked their lives by rushing into a fire that broke out in a city maintenance and dispatch yard last week to save 11 buses.
Bing denied the bus system would compete with SMART or the Detroit Department of Transportation, or might even lead to the demise of DDOT.
"It should complement both SMART and DDOT," he said. "It provides access for Detroiters to areas outside of the city and opens up opportunities for our suburban partners to come into Detroit."
According to Bing, DDOT will get the bulk of the $230 million in federal funds and will also keep the $25 million TIGER grant it earlier received from the Obama administration.
Bing was also asked if the new bus system would be open to private investors.
"At this point we will accept any private money offered," said Bing, drawing laughter from the media.
The proposed light rail system was supposed to be underwritten by a $100 million investment from private investors, including Peter Karmanos, Mike Ilitch and others, to fund the first stretch of tracks from Hart Plaza to the New Center area.
"There was a $100 million commitment, but little money was actually on the table," Bing said.
Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh called the change "frustrating" because he had such great hopes about the Woodward Light Rail project being one of the cool things Detroit could tout.
"(But) light rail is more than cool. It's a reason to invest in a community ... create jobs and give Detroit shops and stores," said Pugh, who pointed to the investment of a Whole Foods store as the type of development that's sparked by light rail. "I still think there's room for light rail."
Still, Pugh is pleased everyone is on the same page on regional transit.
"This could be the first step for a regional transit authority and a funding source," he said. "This may be the push to bring SMART and D-DOT together and somehow get that subsidy off our books. We'll see."
dshepardson@detnews.com
(202) 662-8735
Detroit News Staff Writers Darren Nichols and Jim Lynch contributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment