The city has decided
to end service on the downtown heritage streetcar line this month, replacing
eight vintage trolleys with rubber-tire replicas. The reason given for
scrapping the rail service by officials is a $20 million road rebuilding and
repaving project that will include Washington Boulevard, on which the old
trams have run from Grand Circus Park to Hart Plaza since 1975. However,
ridership has been extremely poor and there have been expensive maintenance
and dependability issues. In addition, the quarter-mile (0.4 km) of 900
mm-gauge track has deteriorated and is need of renewal. Officials said it
would be too expensive to restore the trolleys, which cost about $300,000
annually to operate, after the repaving is completed. “We do not want to
lose the historic trolleys, so we will look at every possibility to continue
their service somewhere else,” George W. Jackson Jr., president and chief
executive of the quasi-public Detroit Economic Growth Corp., told The
Detroit News. This appears to indicate that the cars will not be sold or
otherwise disposed of, and streetcar supporters have already suggested
building a new line along the revitalized east riverfront.
