Light Rail Funding Hits Possible Snag

[dcmorrison12]

d.mcc -

Nothing has been thwarted. The application is still on its way to being sent in to the FTA and plans are still moving along. Again, as I posted previously - This article is making a big deal out of something that truly ISN'T as big as Crains would like you to think.

BShea gets his info from Hertel it seems. Hertel LOVES being in the spotlight and will say things to ge that spotlight

[BShea]

d.mcc -

Nothing has been thwarted. The application is still on its way to being sent in to the FTA and plans are still moving along. Again, as I posted previously - This article is making a big deal out of something that truly ISN'T as big as Crains would like you to think.

BShea gets his info from Hertel it seems. Hertel LOVES being in the spotlight and will say things to ge that spotlight

No, I got the warning letters from Cheeks-Kilpatrick. She warned that the funding provision would be stricken without changes -- as did Oberstar.

Without that provision, DDOT faces a serious challenge raising local matching funds. That's no secret -- the city is cash-strapped.

Nowhere does the story suggest the M1 Rail portion is in jeopardy. On the other hand, it was pushed back into 2010 because of the effort to link the funding. The story also does not suggest the entire thing is going to collapse.

Both M1 and DDOT made a big deal of their new cooperative effort and working with Levin to get an arrangement made. The transportation committee chairman now says the provision is out without additional wording. I say in the story that I don't know yet if a revised provision is coming. I would hope it is.

I talked to John Hertel about the second half of the story, explaining how the Woodward line would get handled after 8 Mile Road. No one had written about that yet. Regardless if you think he's a "boob" he's the person in charge of that project.

[dcmorrison12]

Hertel may be in charge of the extension and has "championed" the regional plan - he's gone about it like a sleezy politician. You do realize he tried his best to hamper the DTOGS? He got it in his head that DDOT's plan was NEVER going to work and that M-1 Rail was the only project that would succeed. His plan thereafter was do to his best the stop DDOT and make sure M-1 Rail succeeded. Why not work to make DTOGS successful? It's the better plan logistically.

Anyhow, that disaster has been averted and DDOT has $55 million in federal bus formula funds ready to use for the project - along with $20 million from MDOT.

I'm confident this issue will be solved. It would be foolish for anyone to NOT allow this project to work.

Again, this issue isn't as big as Crains would like us to think

[BShea]

Again, this issue isn't as big as Crains would like us to think

So you're saying that without the Congressional OK on the M1 Rail/DDOT funding deal, everything will still proceed according to the current plan?

Because without it, I'm curious with a nearly bankrupt city that's already cutting DDOT services and funding will get $220 million.

[dcmorrison12]

What I am getting at - and I apoligize for our argument getting a bit heated BShea - is these types of set backs should be settled out of the spotlight.

Issues pop up, but issues can be solved. DTOGS has been around for three years! Of coure it has hit snags, but if you look around today, the plan is still here. In fact, it's just about complete.

I feel that this should be settled behind the scenes, and not put into the spotlight.

Article likes these give fodder to the cynics and worry the optimists. I say let it be OR, get a hold of a DDOT representative before you send out the article for print.

I understand you attempted to speak with Norman and unforunately it didn't work out.



Let's step back and look at how CLOSE Detroit is at getting a rail line!

Detroit has never been so close, not for 53 years - from the moment the last Street car ran it's course down Woodward. All other attempts haven't even gotten close to achieving the success that DTOGS has.

Let's also not forget that Detroit's application is incredibly strong. Not only do we have $125 million as a private local match, but we also have $55 million in federal bus formula funds to compliment the match. ALSO, MDOT generously programmed $20 million in "Woodward reconstruction" funds. This $20 million was not necessary for the local match, it's simply to strengthen the application. The less money a municipality has to ask for - the better chances they have of recieing the grant money.

Lastly - the entire New Starts process is long, strict, thorough and tiresome. Most cities do NOT get as far as Detroit has. Detorit has already beaten the odds!


I'm confident we will be riding LRT down woodward by 2014