DETROIT, MI – On Monday morning, hours after full-fledged construction commenced on a $140 million streetcar line, Mayor Mike Duggan and M1 Rail officials marked what they said is a historic moment in the city.
“We have not had lightrail for more than half a century,” said Duggan, noting that the last bits of a once sprawling streetcar system in Detroit was ripped up in the 1950s.
Monday marked the beginning of about two and a half years of construction on the M1 Rail, a 3.3-mile lightrail line that will run from Grand Boulevard in New Center to Congress in downtown Detroit. There will be 20 different stations serving 12 stops, with most of the stations being on either side of Woodward, but some will be in the center of the street as well.
There will be six 60-foot-long, driver-operated cars available for operation. Either end of the streetcar will be able to drive, so the car need not turn around – the driver just goes to the other end.
Duggan told the media Monday that he hoped the streetcar would eventually run all the way out to 8 Mile. In the meantime, he said that this form of transportation was a vital part of building density in downtown Detroit at a time that young people want to move to and live in urban areas.
The federal government signed off on the $140 million M1 Rail project in April. In January 2013, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $25 million in federal funding for the transit project. Several private donors led by Penske Chairman Roger Penske, Quicken Chairman Dan Gilbert and M-1 CEO Matt Cullen contributed $100 million to the project.
The project is seen as a major catalyst for development along the Woodward corridor when it comes online.
Click here to view the M-1 Rail Route Animation
