  Designerguy24 Member Username: Designerguy24 Post Number: 117 Registered: 10-2006 |
check this out! City Announces Location For Light Rail Mass Transit Plan DETROIT -- A light rail mass transit plan for Detroit is one step closer to reality Monday after officials announced the chosen location for the $371 million project. The electric rail cars will run up the middle of Woodward Avenue, from a yet to be determined starting point, to Foxtown and on to the State Fairgrounds, where a 400-space parking complex will service incoming commuters. Monday's announcement, made by Norman White, chairman for The Detroit Transit Options for Growth Study, in conjunction with U.S. Rep. Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D), and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick marks the initiation of the preliminary engineering phase. The rail will generate 12,000 jobs and service 11, 000 round trips daily, according to the city's technical review. The $371 million light rail mass transit program, sponsored by DDOT, will be up to 60 percent federally funded and 40 percent funded by private contributions and foundation grants. The city does not have full funding for the next phase, but they are hoping that Cheeks-Kilpatrick can help by using her seat on the state appropriations committee. Some Detroiters said they are leery of the project because feasibility studies on the light rail mass transit project have been in the works for 30 years. Activists said the city is pursing a process that worked to get Denver, Minneapolis and Dallas on rails. DDOT rider Marcia Yakes told Local 4 she hopes something will change soon, because she is sick of waiting for buses that don't show up. Passengers would ride streetcar style trains powered by overhead wires running on steel rails embedded in the street and operated by a driver. http://www.clickondetroit.com/ news/15946921/detail.html | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2187 Registered: 07-2004 |
Haha. I'll believe it when I see it. Note the timing and who's announcing it: Fibber McGee and Mommy. | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 5735 Registered: 10-2003 |
Could it actually happen for us in my life time? WOW... | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 2046 Registered: 05-2005 |
skippers rule... but still awesome just to read/hear it | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6675 Registered: 08-2004 |
... up the middle of Woodward? ...and these overhead wires would have what kind of effect on Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade?? | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 6365 Registered: 11-2003 |
Add a conductor to take fares and keep all things tidy. This isn't exactly Salt Lake City ya know. For motormen to take fares and keep order doesn't work as in New Orleans where the street cars roll at a snail's pace. jjaba. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6235 Registered: 10-2003 |
A shockingly exciting effect! | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 5736 Registered: 10-2003 |
The same as they always had Gistok none apparently.... | ||
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat Post Number: 237 Registered: 10-2003 |
"Fibber McGee and Mommy" - that's funny. | ||
Qdaddy77 Member Username: Qdaddy77 Post Number: 126 Registered: 05-2007 |
please note that it begins and end inside the city limits. So the city can charge you to park your car too.... You gotta love the Kilpatrick Smoke and Mirrors campaign. Nice to see Mommie show her face again too. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5940 Registered: 10-2004 |
Let's discuss those 12,000 imaginary jobs. In what industries? Where will they be located? Who has the skills to get any of them? [IOW, are there any basic enough for those with little to no work skills to get, and why?] How was the 12,000 figure derived? [Taking any comparable city's LRT plan won't apply here because Detroit has no peer city low enough.] Who actually made that figure and is that organization or individual willing to back it up in some meaningful way--like some substantial penalty held in escrow for any substantial error? [Yeah! I got to witness this...] | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 605 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote:So L. Brooks Patterson doesn't put the kibosh on it, more like. I'm no fan of Kwame, but I somehow doubt this project is an orchestrated parking-revenue grab for the city. If you drive all the way downtown, chances are you'll be charged to park your car as well. | ||
Rax Member Username: Rax Post Number: 228 Registered: 11-2007 |
I hope this doesn't negatively impact the new Rosa Parks Transit Center. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2188 Registered: 07-2004 |
Hardhat: Thanks!  | ||
Toog05 Member Username: Toog05 Post Number: 188 Registered: 03-2006 |
I think it will happen, it's just a matter of when. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6676 Registered: 08-2004 |
Detroit_Stylin, perhaps big balloon parade characters weren't the craze at parades back in the 1st half of the 20th century when streetcars were popular... Now the biggest hurdle (after a few overhead traffic lights were temporarily removed) has been the GCP Woodward Ave. People Mover beam. (Message edited by Gistok on April 21, 2008) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6236 Registered: 10-2003 |
Perhaps you can find your answers, or not, here, LY. http://www.dtogs.com/PublicDoc s.html | ||
Living_in_the_d Member Username: Living_in_the_d Post Number: 173 Registered: 01-2008 |
Yeah, Cool. Very Cool. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5941 Registered: 10-2004 |
JL, asking DTOGS for answers is like asking your folks about the tooth fairy. For months, they had nothing more recent than a half year old on their Web site. I second the "Smoke & Mirrors" nomination. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 606 Registered: 04-2006 |
Gistok, given the choice between light rail on Woodward and a few pretty balloons once a year, I'll take the light rail every time. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 3026 Registered: 04-2006 |
I'll believe it when I see it. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 3027 Registered: 04-2006 |
In related news... Oil prices spiked to over $117 a barrel | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2189 Registered: 07-2004 |
Sure I'll take mass transit: When you pry my steering wheel out of my cold, dead-- um, how much is gas again? Which way to the streetcar stop? | ||
Danindc Member Username: Danindc Post Number: 4160 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: What's wrong with that? Why should the City of Detroit spend millions of dollars on a rail system, and thousands of dollars per parking spot, simply to subsidize suburban commuters? Most rail systems that have park-and-ride charge a fee (typically less than market-rate) for the privilege. quote: Get a copy of the study and read it. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5942 Registered: 10-2004 |
OK. Dan believes in tooth fairies. | ||
Defendbrooklyn Member Username: Defendbrooklyn Post Number: 817 Registered: 11-2005 |
Talk is cheap, but It would be great. Would people drive and park to get on the rail...why not just drive to the city/destination? What about the highland park factor. Would burb folks want to take stroll through highland park? | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2191 Registered: 07-2004 |
Right. What's going to happen is, the suburban people get on at 8 Mile. Then, at McNichols, they get off, walk through Highland Park, then get on again at Tuxedo, continuing on to downtown. Or, wait a sec. Are you on crack, Defendbrooklyn? Why the hell would anybody "take stroll" through Highland Park unless they had business there? | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5943 Registered: 10-2004 |
It wouldn't be that much extra time/distance to skirt around HP. It would actually be safer passing through Hamtramck instead of the Detroit detour around HP. | ||
Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore Post Number: 129 Registered: 11-2006 |
I love the pessimism... We should all expect this to happen. And, taking this story seriously. It's not a far stretch for the city to come up with it's portion for this project. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2192 Registered: 07-2004 |
For me, what makes it a stretch is that it was announced by our all-image playboy mayor, who's done this announce-and-retreat thing before. |
