M-1 Rail construction! Woodward Ave. South of Adams closes July 28

[Bham1982]

In just over two years, thousands of Detroiters will be able to commute, daily, from home to work or school, without a car. Thousands of visitors to downtown each year will be able to take clean, inexpensive transit to the DIA. One will be able to arrive in downtown Detroit from Chicago and Western Michigan via rail.

And of course everyone can do this right now, already, and with higher frequencies than planned by Gilbert.

[Bham1982]

But unlike the PM, this system can be expanded to serve a larger area.

The DPM was built to be expanded, just like the Gilbertville Trolley.

[Bham1982]

It covers a MUCH broader area and the three busiest, people-dense, and most successful neighborhoods in detroit.. it will absolutely trump the people mover ridership by quite a bit

Even the boosters for the trolley don't make such a claim. Their ridership estimates are actually lower than the ridership estimates during construction of the People Mover.

Obviously downtown, with its density and events will generate more traffic than a transit line through the wastelands of the Cass Corridor.

[professorscott]

But, exactly that may be happening. M1 Rail is being designed to optimized the M1 rail route. If the system gets expanded by a regional authority, they may well have different ideas about center running versus street running versus dedicated right-of-way. They may favor different methods of current collection with continuous wire/third rail/slot rail and may well eschew the battery pack and intermittent charging. It may very well be that when a regional system is achieved that M1 rail may be a "maverick" in the system with incompatible equipment, methods, and logistics for replacements and parts.

What an astonishing issue to be fussing over in 2014! Rest assured, nobody in any position of authority is even remotely considering implementing any rail transit along Woodward, beyond the M1 termini. The only thing under study - and that's all it is, a study - is a BRT system which can be implemented regardless of how M1 works. It will take years to get that up and running, if it is decided to do so. I said before, and I'll repeat, I simply can't imagine under the current situation how even that would be in operation any time before 2019. Now, if the ridership on that is very high and someone begins to contemplate changing it over to light rail, then the whole process starts all over again and you're looking at implementation of light rail in the mid 2020s or later. If M1, or later the RTA, decided to simply extend the existing system for some distance, it could be done in the same timeframe, but it's not sensible to run streetcars as far as Pontiac. Royal Oak, sure; Pontiac, no.

Also, the tracks will match the gauge of every single streetcar and LRT system built in North America over the last 30 years. I believe they will be using 115 lb. rail which is sufficient for any vehicle you could imagine running over it. And as to the concern about overhead wire vs. the lack of it, it is completely feasible to run off-wire and on-wire trains on the same tracks. Amtrak, in the northeast corridor, runs diesel and electrified locomotives on the same track.

But this is 2014 and absolutely the only two transit projects with any chance of happening in the next few years are M1 Rail and "MI Train", the Ann Arbor commuter rail, and those will have no difficulty interacting with each other.

[dtowncitylover]

Even the boosters for the trolley don't make such a claim. Their ridership estimates are actually lower than the ridership estimates during construction of the People Mover.

Obviously downtown, with its density and events will generate more traffic than a transit line through the wastelands of the Cass Corridor.

The projected ridership for the PM included the original system is was supposed to service. Once people realized the PM didn't go anywhere, ridership fell off then basically leveled. M-1 actually goes somewhere; going along a linear line through Detroit's three buiest neighborhoods is alot different from going in a circle anywhere.

And indeed the PM was built to be expanded, however the technology used was too costly and become irrelevent too quickly, and the fact the region was less cooperative than it is today also added to the PM failure.

[Dexlin]

I think something significant being lost by both supporters and detrators of this line is what it will mean for development in the downtown proper. This will allow people who want to come to downtown proper other options to park their cars [[particularly in Midtown and New Center), which in turns reduces the demand for parking downtown, which it turn makes these lots more attractive to development. If this is all that the line ever does it will have been a success.

Something else that needs to be taken into mind is that this will accentuate existing DDOT and SMART bus routes. It will not replace any of these services, at least not in the short term. What that means is an increased frequency of mass transit along this 3 mile stretch of Woodward, in general. If you miss the bus, you'll be able to catch the streetcar and vice versa. This is going to make waits for either service significantly shorter.

So, this thing increases transit frequency and incentivizes development along the line, and that's without it being connected to much of anything. Imagine what it could do, then, if its pluged into a region-wide plan. People keep calling it People Move 2.0, and I say good. You can effectively think about this as an extension of the idea and every concentric ring and loop of transit [[this streetcar is called a "circulator" for a reason), and every extension lends more of an argument to connect this thing up with a region-wide system - whether that be bus or rail or both - that feeds into this growing transit core.

[Mackinaw]

Bham, no matter how right you are about the rough [[and I mean very rough) equivalency of traditional bus service, and I am with you, the simple reality is that perception trumps reality, and transit ridership will in fact be higher if the same route is covered by a train rather than a bus. And pursuant to same perceptions, development and population increase will follow.

Do yourself and us a favor and acknowledge that the correctness of your point about bus service comes, first of all, with a) the caveat that bus services has been extremely shoddy and M1 likely offers a true upgrade for those within its range and b) that perception is reality and that due to same the city will in fact benefit from M1.

[SpartanDawg]

Some new details coming out today:

street Lights along woodward will be replaced with new ones.. old ones will be moved to other areas in midtown.. this is peculiar since the current ones are pretty good-looking and nice.. wonder what the new ones will bring


demolition and reconstruction of 75 and 94 overpasses

overhead wires between Henry and canfield in midtown.. rest is off wire

stations will not be 'massive' as to hinder businesses

"Each @M1RAIL station's design will "reflect surrounding historic and local elements" - will engage local art community on this"

[Gorath]

Some new details coming out today:

street Lights along woodward will be replaced with new ones.. old ones will be moved to other areas in midtown.. this is peculiar since the current ones are pretty good-looking and nice.. wonder what the new ones will bring

I would guess that the existing street lights are being removed to be used elsewhere because the new catenary will integrate street lighting into the design.

For example:

[professorscott]

Some new details coming out today:

street Lights along woodward will be replaced with new ones.. old ones will be moved to other areas in midtown.. this is peculiar since the current ones are pretty good-looking and nice.. wonder what the new ones will bring


demolition and reconstruction of 75 and 94 overpasses

overhead wires between Henry and canfield in midtown.. rest is off wire

stations will not be 'massive' as to hinder businesses

"Each @M1RAIL station's design will "reflect surrounding historic and local elements" - will engage local art community on this"

Spartandawg,

Whence the new details?

Thanks,
Prof

[paulj313]

I thought the M1 Rail wasn't going to have catenaries...

[animatedmartian]

Here's the schedule for construction of the Midtown portion of the rail.

http://m-1rail.com/wp-content/upload...4rev_FINAL.pdf

2014
– Track Installation & Roadwork: NB Watson to Canfield
• July – December
– DTE Ductbank: Sibley to I-94
• July 2014 – January 2015
– I-75 Structure Replacement
• Southbound: July 2014 – April 2015
– I-94 Structure Replacement
• Southbound: July 2014 – April 2015


• 2015
– Track Installation & Roadwork: NB Canfield to I-94
• March – June
– Track Installation & Roadwork: NB Sibley to Watson
• June – July
– Track Installation & Roadwork: SB Sibley to Warren
• June – November
– I-75 Structure Replacement
• Northbound: May 2015 – October 2015
– I-94 Structure Replacement
• Northbound: April 2015 – October 2015


• 2016
– Track Installation & Roadwork: SB Warren to I-94
• March – April
– Systems & Vertical Elements : Sibley to I-94
• February – August


Specific dates in 2014:

• I-75 Bridge Southbound Closure

MOT Staging -7/21/2014
MOT Closure -8/4/2014
Excavation/Utilities - 8/11/2014
Demo - 8/22/2014 PM hours

• Watson – MLK Northbound Closure

MOT Staging - 7/21/2014
MOT Closure - 8/4/2014
Shovel in ground - 8/7/2014

• MLK - Alexandrine Northbound Closure

MOT Closure - 8/25/2014
Shovel in ground - 8/27/2014

• Alexandrine - Canfield Northbound Closure

MOT Closure - 9/15/2014
Shovel in ground - 9/18/2014

• DTE Ductbank – Canfield to I-94 Center Lanes Closure

MOT Staging/Closure - 7/21/2014
Shovel in ground - 7/22/2014

• I-94 Bridge Southbound Closure

MOT Staging - 7/28/2014
MOT Closure - 7/30/2014
Excavation/Utilities - 8/4/2014
Demo - 8/8/2014 PM



I-94 and I-75 will be completely closed between the Lodge and Chrysler Freeway during 4 weekends except for game days; once during August, once during February, once during April, and finally once during September.

Basically, there's going to be orange barrels all up and down Woodward including on the freeways.

There's also mention that construction of M-1 Rail will be coordinated with construction of the New Red Wings Arena and the accompanying "retail, business, and residential development from Grand Circus Park to Charlotte Street".

[Danny]

Possibly RTE 53 Woodward Ave. DDOT busses and RTE's 450 460, 465 and 445 SMART buses will making detours.