Preparatory Work for M-1 Rail Begins

[Whitehouse]

If you really want to experience a tramway, you should go to Amsterdam, or even better, Zurich in Switserland. Just look at this map!!! No, this is not a subway, it's all above ground!!




The city of The Hague has a lightrail sysyem, which sometimes does it's duty as... a street car. It all depends on the speed in which the streetcars are going. One section of the track is called de netkous , or in English, the stocking. It's no mistery why it got that name.



This is a connection to a suburb of The Hague called Zoetermeer. Between The Hague and Zoetermeer as well as The Hague -Rotterdam it reaches speed of up to 100 km/h. But this is the vehicle driving at street car speeds. The red street cars are for regular inner city service.

[SDCC]

This is how Detroit compares to other cities in mass transit. Great graphic. http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?subways

The map even got the colors of the trolley lines right. Blue, red and green in San Diego...cool map

[stasu1213]

So there is only going to be one lane for vehicle on Woodward south of Adams? It appears that the sidewalks are not going to be narrowed and the street widened in that spot. The digging out is next to the curb and a very tight space in the middle for cars

[LP_85]

So there is only going to be one lane for vehicle on Woodward south of Adams? It appears that the sidewalks are not going to be narrowed and the street widened in that spot. The digging out is next to the curb and a very tight space in the middle for cars

No, there will still be two lanes for cars - the M1 Rail is designed to operate in mixed traffic. That's always been the plan, as far as I know.

[professorscott]

No, there will still be two lanes for cars - the M1 Rail is designed to operate in mixed traffic. That's always been the plan, as far as I know.

Yep. Where there's parking, the M1 will be in the first travel lane, next to parked cars, and the stations will be curb bump-outs. Where there's no parking, M1 will be along the sidewalk and the stations will be on existing sidewalk space. At the north end everything transitions to the center. When it is eventually extended farther north, the road is wide enough to accommodate two lanes of automobile travel in both directions and dedicated lanes for the streetcar.

[Detroit Stylin]

http://www.detroittransithistory.inf...CC-parade.html

Interesting link. The last run of streetcar service in Detroit. April 8, 1956

[gthomas]

I don't know if this had been said or not, but I heard of reconstruction plan for the GCP station to connect with M-1 Rail? Are there any concept renderings/plans of this?

[stinkytofu]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...mplete-project

Good news I suppose.

[stasu1213]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...mplete-project

Good news I suppose.

Not good news but not bad news. Penske and Gilbert can pull out, count their losses, cover Woodward up,and repave it from downtown to Blvd, and bring on the rapid busses

[animatedmartian]

They've always had the option to pull out.

[professorscott]

I don't know if this had been said or not, but I heard of reconstruction plan for the GCP station to connect with M-1 Rail? Are there any concept renderings/plans of this?

I haven't seen any, and I doubt there's any need. To the M1 folks, GCP is the transfer point between M1 and DPM. It's only about 25 paces, if the southbound station is where I think it is. Northbound, of course, you have to cross Woodward so it's a bit farther.

[gthomas]

Could the station to relocated to be over Woodward Ave. instead of in front of the David Whitney? So now there's an entrance for the south and north station of M-1 rail connecting the GCP station.

[professorscott]

Could the station to relocated to be over Woodward Ave. instead of in front of the David Whitney? So now there's an entrance for the south and north station of M-1 rail connecting the GCP station.

That depends on what you mean by "could". Is it technically possible to do this? Yes; difficult but technically possible. Does anyone have the money to do it? No.

[MSUguy]

Recap: Seventh Week of Construction

Rail welding began during the seventh week of construction, as progress continued to be made on Woodward Avenue in Midtown and Downtown. For the welding operation, we set up an assembly line near Cass Avenue in Midtown to weld our steel rail into about forty 560-foot-long “strings” of Continuously Welded Rail [[CWR).

Using a track excavator, 80-foot pieces of rail were moved, hand grinded, and pulled through a flash butt welder. The welder heated-up both ends of the rail to 1,600 degrees, then the molten ends were pressed together, forming a high quality bond. Check out pictures of the process below!

Look Ahead: September 14 - 20, 2014 In Downtown, crews will continue with utility work and prepping for rail installation. DTE Energy is also continuing their electrical duct bank work in both Downtown and Midtown. Crews will continue to prep for the I-75 bridge demolition as I-94 bridge construction work continues. http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...&id=777628ae68

[stinkytofu]

With Chris Ilitch saying today that the 75 overpass will be expanded so retail can fit...it seems like that would all be coordinated at this point?

[SpartanDawg]

With Chris Ilitch saying today that the 75 overpass will be expanded so retail can fit...it seems like that would all be coordinated at this point?

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-entertainment

"One of the more unique elements of the project will be reconstruction of the nearby Woodward Avenue bridge atop I-75, which will be lined with storefronts for pedestrian traffic."

Yea this was confirmed by Crain's... i'm sure they have coordinated with MDOT seeing as how the I75 bridge is currently under construction and the arena groundbreaking is next week! Extremely excited for this

[swede1934]

There have been several comments about using the old rail on Woodward for an easy extension of the M1 beyond Grand Blvd. The stretch between Clairmount and McNichols is anything but "Old" or "Worn Out". Those tracks, with the exception of the stretch between Sears and Victor in Highland Park, were completely replaced with new rail set in concrete around 1947. Those new tracks were then only used about 8 years before they were covered over. Unless there is a problem with a difference in gauge between the old DSR system and the M1, milling and cleaning should allow that whole stretch to be inexpensively brought back into service.

[Hermod]

There have been several comments about using the old rail on Woodward for an easy extension of the M1 beyond Grand Blvd. The stretch between Clairmount and McNichols is anything but "Old" or "Worn Out". Those tracks, with the exception of the stretch between Sears and Victor in Highland Park, were completely replaced with new rail set in concrete around 1947. Those new tracks were then only used about 8 years before they were covered over. Unless there is a problem with a difference in gauge between the old DSR system and the M1, milling and cleaning should allow that whole stretch to be inexpensively brought back into service.

I believe the whole rail system of the DUR was standard gauge [[4ft 8-1/2in). Some municipal trolley systems were built to a non-standard gauge under the terms of their charter [[the cities worried that the railroads would buy up the trolley system and use the tracks to switch freight cars on the city streets). Most of the trolley systems in Pennsylvania were built to a different "PA trolley gauge".

[mikeg19]

There have been several comments about using the old rail on Woodward for an easy extension of the M1 beyond Grand Blvd. The stretch between Clairmount and McNichols is anything but "Old" or "Worn Out". Those tracks, with the exception of the stretch between Sears and Victor in Highland Park, were completely replaced with new rail set in concrete around 1947. Those new tracks were then only used about 8 years before they were covered over. Unless there is a problem with a difference in gauge between the old DSR system and the M1, milling and cleaning should allow that whole stretch to be inexpensively brought back into service.

My only thought about this is that it's been about 60 years since they're been buried. What would they look like at this point with cars and trucks driving over them, not to mention the freeze/thaw cycle of 60 winters under their belts? I understand they are not technically exposed to the outside elements, but water seeping into the ground is and constantly freezing/thawing has got to do something to the soild/concrete that they are encased in. Would they be bent out of shape?

[swede1934]

I don't think those "Old" tracks moved much in the 60 years they have been there encased in concrete as they were.
A side note, as a 15 year old kid, it was fascinating to watch that reconstruction as it went on. The Woodward streetcar line remained fully in service during the period. A temporary track was laid on top of the asphalt for a distance of about 1/4 to 1/2 mile parallel to and outside the old tracks. The temporary tracks connected to the regular tracks through a connection at both ends of the construction zone, they were then moved down the street as each work zone was completed. Tracks in both directions were replaced at the same time, so during that period Woodward was reduced to a single lane in each direction.

[professorscott]

My only thought about this is that it's been about 60 years since they're been buried. What would they look like at this point with cars and trucks driving over them, not to mention the freeze/thaw cycle of 60 winters under their belts? I understand they are not technically exposed to the outside elements, but water seeping into the ground is and constantly freezing/thawing has got to do something to the soild/concrete that they are encased in. Would they be bent out of shape?

Actually it's not unheard of to reuse old track like this, but it's not cheap or simple. The process would involve cutting a small section of rail for testing to make sure it was up to the required specifications and [[believe it or not) not radioactive above acceptable levels. Then the track would have to be removed and straightened, welds checked and repairs made and so forth. The main question is whether it is more economical to do this or to just install new track, and I have no answer to that.

I will say, though, that it is not possible to just uncover the track and use it where and how it is. Just for one thing, the grades won't be correct and any underlayment will be completely destroyed and unusable. But overall, the idea of reusing the actual track is an interesting one.

[SpartanDawg]

choo choo people. Choo fkkkin choo

[Hypestyles]

... how would this proposed widening of I-94 affect the M-1 rail?

[Spartan]

... how would this proposed widening of I-94 affect the M-1 rail?

It might have to go over a bigger bridge?

[professorscott]

It might have to go over a bigger bridge?

Possibly not. There's quite a bit of unused real estate under the existing bridge and it seems to be in reasonably decent shape. My guess is that they [[MDOT) will try to use the existing span if at all possible.