Detroit — LaHood Praises Leaders
January 2013
The Detroit Free Press reported that U.S. Tranportation Secretary Ray Lahood on January 14 praised the Detroit government and Michigan legislators for creating a regional transit authority covering the Detroit region and for assembling funds to construct the 3.3-mile "M1" streetcar line along Woodward Avenue.
LaHood will award $25 million in Federal funding for the project. The Kresge Foundation, based locally, has committed $35 million to the project, the Detroit Downtown Development Authority has contributed $9 million and Detroit businesses and nonprofits have pledged $30 million. These large amounts of up-front funding from private sector sources are without precedent among contemporary U.S. streetcar projects.
The first phase of the new line in Detroit will run from downtown to New Center. The line will include 11 stations, with connections to Campus Martius; Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team; Detroit Medical Center; and Wayne State University. |