Woodward Light Rail

[atrainguy60]

http://www.freep.com/article/20120316/N ... light-rail

[Ypsi]

3rd times a charm

[AJR]

Wate of time,money and not needed. If a bus system can't be run properly in the city, how in the heck is a transit system going to fare any better. I don't care if its run by the public or by private concerns.

[SD80MAC]

Joke. Failure. Uttter idiotic waste of taxpayer dollars. Who the heck is running these cities?

[bnsfben]

Jon, it would be a great system if they actually worked in harmony with the state and federal government. We really could probably have a great light rail system if the funds were sufficient and the most important thing COOPERATION were there. You can't run a government properly without two things; compromise and cooperation. We currently have neither.

[railohio]

http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-tra ... -streetcar

[wagnew0923]

Light rail is great if it goes somewhere from a central location. This goes to a busy part of the town but from further down town. It does nothing to bring people into the city. As much as I would love to have Detroit have a rail based public transit system, the fact is, that it will fail until it actually brings people to Detroit. If they would take it as far as eight mile it would be great and commuters would be using it to get to work.

The only way good public transit works is if Commuter rail brings them into the city, and light rail gets them around the city. Chicago and New York are great examples of this.

Of course it would be practical (since the rails are still there) to just dig up and use the old trolly system. But heaven forbid that Detroit admit to a mistake it made 50+ years ago.

[Fred]

I don't think ending the rail at 8 Mile woud do any good. If somebody from Birmingham, Troy, etc has to still drive fro there to 8 Mile he probably would just keep on driving the rest of te way into Detroit. Besides that, who in his right mind would leave his car at 8 Mile & Woodward.! The rail would need to continue at least another 6 or 7 miles into Oakland County. Of course, if they brought back the commuter service on the former GTW line from Birmingham into Detroit might help then the light rail wouldn't need to go beyond the proposed new Redwing complex on Woodward north of The Fox & Comerica Park.
Just my 2 cents

[Saturnalia]

Focus on making downtown better instead of wasting it on a lite rail project to nowhere. IMO

Meanwhile:
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/01/17/do ... thinks-so/

Proposed 1.8 BILLION dollar upgrade to I-94. Looks like it would involve replacing some railroad overpasses.

[J T]

Focus on making downtown better instead of wasting it on a lite rail project to nowhere. IMO

Oh, it's not going nowhere, it's going to da ghetto!

[NYCMan]

This is excellent news... for the muggers, robbers and thieves. And, they will be a tourist attraction, too. The out-of-towners can come and ride the Light Rail to take a scenic tour of the run down, burnt down, and boarded up buildings on both sides of Woodward Avenue from downtown to 8 Mile, as well as the colorful inner city life lined up along the streets, including the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers.

I LOVE DETROIT!

[Racer]

NYCMan has got a point. Does the city realize how many murders, rapes, and abductions (or all 3 combined) happen in the neighborhoods that the light rail system would run through? The fact the trains would stop in the neighborhoods would give the ability for these offenders to board the train and have access to the city and commit crimes on anyone that ride the trains.

[wagnew0923]

This is excellent news... for the muggers, robbers and thieves. And, they will be a tourist attraction, too. The out-of-towners can come and ride the Light Rail to take a scenic tour of the run down, burnt down, and boarded up buildings on both sides of Woodward Avenue from downtown to 8 Mile, as well as the colorful inner city life lined up along the streets, including the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers.

I LOVE DETROIT!

Don't forget the hookers. Catch a train and syphilis at the same time

[wagnew0923]

This is excellent news... for the muggers, robbers and thieves. And, they will be a tourist attraction, too. The out-of-towners can come and ride the Light Rail to take a scenic tour of the run down, burnt down, and boarded up buildings on both sides of Woodward Avenue from downtown to 8 Mile, as well as the colorful inner city life lined up along the streets, including the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers.

I LOVE DETROIT!

Don't forget the hookers. Catch a train and syphilis at the same time

[Typhoon]

NYCMan has got a point. Does the city realize how many murders, rapes, and abductions (or all 3 combined) happen in the neighborhoods that the light rail system would run through? The fact the trains would stop in the neighborhoods would give the ability for these offenders to board the train and have access to the city and commit crimes on anyone that ride the trains.

Wow.....if this is such a big deal you might want to let Chicago know that they should shut down the el on the south side.

[Tom]

NYCMan has got a point. Does the city realize how many murders, rapes, and abductions (or all 3 combined) happen in the neighborhoods that the light rail system would run through? The fact the trains would stop in the neighborhoods would give the ability for these offenders to board the train and have access to the city and commit crimes on anyone that ride the trains.

Do tell. News Flash: Most offenders have cars already.

Woodward ave. is not that bad. Worked in and visited many times with no issues.

[Hugh]

The brand of electrical substation equipment they purchase is what interests me.

[gonzojoe]

How is the bidding going to be done on this project? Please don't tell me that the odds on favorite seems to be " Bobby Ferguson and Associates.

[hoborich]

Take a "scenic drive" out Woodward, from downtown to 8 mile, and then we'll talk about it.
Listen to a scanner sometime. No scanner? You can listen to the Detroit Fire dept live online now!

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?feedId=805

At the rate they are burning down the city, there won't be anything left in a few more months.
Friday night they went to a house fire, which spread to a house next door. While they were working on those two, some bold Ahole set another one on fire right across the street, ["Squad 5 to central! We have another house starting up right across the street! We'll let you know!"]resulting in three houses burned, on the same run! Happens all day and night in Detroit, 24/7! Pay no attention to the happy talk! The talking heads on Ch 4 can't say, "get out now! This city is screwed". Anybody remember Emily Gail, ["say nice things about Detroit"] when she ran for city council, 25 years ago? How did that work out?
Anyone remember after the riots, when they created the New Detroit Committee, to rebuild Detroit from the ashes? All the movers and shakers, and business people had their three martini lunches weekly, and announced various plans to save Detroit, while they were quietly moving their familys and businesses out to the suburbs. How did that work out?
One of the TV stations was interviewing people on the street, a while back when Kwame was on trial, and many of the people said they would vote for Kwame AGAIN! They said the government was picking on him.
I was born and raised in Detroit, and remember when it was the fifth largest city in the country. I know every street and alley in Detroit. And I can tell you, without a doubt, Detroit isn't coming back, at least not in our lifetimes! But no politician can say Detroit is finished! No politician can say "We're done throwing money down that rathole". So they come up with various plans from time to time, then let them die a quiet death.

[Tom]

Take a "scenic drive" out Woodward, from downtown to 8 mile, and then we'll talk about it.
Listen to a scanner sometime. No scanner? You can listen to the Detroit Fire dept live online now!
.

I said I never had any problems there based on my experience. Maybe I just imagined it. I didn't say it was perfect. Anyway back to the topic.

I do think light rail would simply duplicate the bus service that is already there unless it went past 8 mile. It would require monitoring and policing and Detroit's police force is already stretched thin. It's like building a new highway and expecting people not to speed on it.