Woodward Light Rail Clears Roadblock

[conrailmike]

In today's Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100802 ... -roadblock

[GTW6401]

The Smart bus system has a millage request on the ballot tomorrow, and I feel it would be easier to expand the bus systems and create a direct express route to places like Metro Airport or Downtown using the resources already in place.

I cant think of where the ridership is going to come from since most people coming downtown would prefer to drive down, instead of this new project I refer to as the People Mover Part 2. I wont even go into the potential safety issues that suburbanites will have about riding a train through certain parts of the city.

Just think of how many other projects could be financed by the amount of money being spent on this light rail project. I think the list of things is pretty endless of useful projects in Detroit.

[conrailmike]

They'll build the first phase and then that will be it. It WILL be the people mover part 2. What a waste.

[firemedic54]

Seems to be a rather high projection..or hope in this case. It would be nice to see $10 billion in return over time but is this a realistic goal?

[conrailmike]

Seems to me all that privately funded money ($125 million dollars so far) could be used in such better ways to help the city of Detroit. How about using all that money to bulldoze all the burned out neighborhoods and buildings that are falling down? Funny they come out of the woodwork for crap like this but when the city really needs help they are nowhere to be found.

If they are going to build it, why not go past 8 Mile and farther up into the suburbs? Detroit doesn't need another "train to nowhere"

Awesome, let's ride the train into the city of blight and corruption. What a way to spend the day with your family

[KenB]

If that money was spent to tear down more of the City, what would you have? More vacent land? Lets build the streetcar line. After it is built there will be hard numbers to see weather it is effective or not. It will haelp spur development in the area and just because YOU can drive and get around not all people can drive. Some people do need public transportation.
Don't forget, YOU could be driving through an intersection leagley, some one else can run the light, smack you and you are not driving any more and will HAVE to rely on public transportation.

You are correct, stopping the line at the Fair Grounds is really STUPID. There is no longer a State Fair, It won't even go to the new Meijer Store on Eight Mile. It really needs to go to at least Nine Mile. Detroit wines it wants to be part of the region but stopping the streetcar line at Eight Mile shows they don't really want to be part of the region.

The whole are needs to work together to make this a better place.

[GTW6401]

The Detroit News is reporting that the feds have awarded a $25 million dollar grant towards the Woodward light rail project.

[hoborich]

I'd prefer they fix the roads around here.

[GTW6401]

I'd prefer they fix the roads around here.

I 100% agree. Ive hit hundreds of potholes on that stretch of Woodward this winter.

[ns8401]

If you guys get real lucky maybe they will repave the street while they are at it...

[RRTTF]

I don't understand this. Some of you guys actually think the Woodward "light rail" should be built? WHY? FOR WHOM? The City of Detroit DDOT already runs busses down Woodward Avenue... and I do not see lines of people fighting to get on them. (That is, unless the bus is involved in a fender bender, then there is a crowd fighting to get ONTO the bus to claim that they got WHIPLASH during the accident!) So, if the buses are not full, then what users are going to support the Light Rail?

The feds giving $25 Million to this project will not make even a dent in the overall cost to build this line from downtown to just 8 Mile Road. Have any of you driven Woodward Avenue from the riverfront to 8 Mile lately? I did this past weekend. There are potholes big enough for a DDOT bus to get lost in!

$25 Million could buy a LOT of buses AND fund there operation for many years to come. But, as far as light rail is concerned, $25 Million... even $250 Million... will not go very far. And, do bear in mind how much maintenance light rail will require once installed. Never mind the metal thievery that is RAMPANT in Detroit.

I have not been on a DDOT bus in a number of years. But, I do remember how the bus was dirty and had a putrid stench of urine. Bring on the Light Rail. In no time, the Light Rail cars will also have that same hearty stench to offend one's olfactory senses! And, after a couple more years, the Light Rail will be breaking down and nothing moving. At least when one bus breaks down, the other buses can drive around it. But, on Light Rail, it is "follow the leader".


I love rail, and I believe the DSR streetcars should have never gone away. But, it is too late now to turn back the clock by half a century!

[GTW6401]

Ive rode the Smart Bus down Woodward to the Royal Oak transit depot a few times this year to catch the Amtrak. The buses were pretty clean and certainly didn't have "a putrid stench of urine." Most people that were on the bus had grocery bags with them from the Kroger on 13 Mile.

The reality is that theres really nothing desirable along Woodward once you get north of Grand Boulevard, along with other areas of the city have no redeeming characteristics that have been largely avoided by folks from the suburbs since the summer of 67.

The fact is that Detroit really screwed up by not creating a mass transit system around the time they shut down the street cars, when the city still had a glimmer of hope. Most projects are doomed to fail, no matter how much money is thrown at it from private businesses or Washington until Detroit can address the many issues it has both socially and economically.

[RRTTF]

Be sure not to confuse SMART with DDOT. They are 2 seperate organizations. SMART buses are orange/white. DDOT buses are green/yellow. And, I would agree that SMART buses are cleaner than DDOT buses. But, then, that makes some sense because (largely) SMART buses run in the 'burbs, whereas DDOT buses run inside the City.

Maybe we should blame it all on the suburbanites who have moved out to places like Troy and Livonia and have, thus, abandoned Detroit!

[GTW6401]

Yes I'm aware of the differences between them, but I was using Smart as a point of reference. Last time I rode a D-DOT bus was a few years ago when they were using them as a shuttle for the auto show.

[mrpilot88]

If you look at the Detroit People Mover it costs Detroit $3.00 to operate for every $0.50 rider fare. I'm pretty sure that the price to ride hasn't gone up. It seems like a waste to extend an already cost ineffective system.

[Michael]

Anyone seen this video promo for the Detroit light rail on You Tube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egc_Mwaz ... dded#at=21

[Old Hogger]

I feel it's a big waste of money. Good for the construction guys, give them some temporary work, but that's about it.

[GTW6401]

Light Rail appears to be dead in Detroit.

http://detnews.com/article/20111214/METRO/112140366/

[RRTTF]

Someone FINALLY came to their fiscal senses. I say AMEN!

[PAT.C]

Someone FINALLY came to their fiscal senses. I say AMEN!

AND I WILL SECOND THAT STATEMENT.!!!!!!!!