BOMBSHELL: M1 Rail won't provide $100 million for DDOT's current Woodward rail plan

[BShea]

An unhappy M1 Rail puts project funds on the line: Group sees DDOT's plan as unsustainable

By Bill Shea
The proposed Woodward Avenue light rail project is in jeopardy.

The private consortium of investors that has pledged $100 million toward the project's $528 million cost doesn't have faith in the Detroit Department of Transportation's plan and won't provide funding until it does, sources familiar with the situation told Crain's.

The group of prominent Detroit businessmen and organizations, M1 Rail, doesn't think the nine-mile-long, streetcar-style rail line between the city limit at Eight Mile Road and downtown, as proposed, is the best use of the funding, is financially sustainable or is the best layout and alignment.

The city's plan also fails to tie the line into any future regional mass transit systems, sources say, and that has M1 balking at financial assistance.

The $100 million is crucial because it's part of the $210 million in required local match money needed by DDOT to leverage funding under the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program, which is aimed at partially funding qualified local transit projects such as rail. Washington would pay $318 million of the cost if the project's New Starts application -- expected this summer -- is approved.
Link to full story

And here's the link to our editorial on the topic, which is must-read: Click here