Prepare for Incoming!

Suburbs to climb aboard light rail?

Extending line could boost whole region, leaders say

By MATT HELMS FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

   Detroit’s momentum in bringing light rail to Woodward Avenue may finally do what years of talks, political promises and symbolic gestures have failed to do: lead to real regional cooperation.

   Leaders in six southern Oakland County cities are taking a big step to literally bridge the 8 Mile divide by extending the rail service into the suburbs.

   “We recognize the opportunity here to really help move the region forward,” said Berkley City Councilman Steve Baker, a member of a task force of leaders from Oakland County cities.

   The proposed rail from downtown to 8 Mile already has 19 stops, including Cobo Center, the city’s two sports stadiums, Midtown and New Center.

   Supporters say extending the rail north would connect it to suburban hot spots, including downtowns in Royal Oak and Birmingham; boost property values and redevelopment, and raise crucial suburban support for a plan that, so far, has stayed within city limits.

   The Oakland group has hired a consulting firm to study how cities from Ferndale to Birmingham may prepare for potentially transformative redevelopment along Woodward.

   The group is working on an application for federal funding for a study of transit options for southern Oakland County, a crucial first move. A similar 18-month study by Detroit led to the city’s current plans for Woodward rail.

   Construction in Detroit is expected to start in the fall, with trains running by 2015.

   The suburban interest underscores Detroit’s long-held contention that progress on the $550-million first leg of the project would have others jumping on board.

Light rail could boost suburbs

South Oakland cities want line extended

By MATT HELMS FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

   Southern Oakland County communities are looking for a game changer to spur redevelopment.

   And they are looking to Detroit.

   The idea: expand the Motor City’s planned light rail line north to encourage redevelopment along Woodward into the suburbs. The move, they say, could create better transit for the 120,000 residents of cities from Ferndale to Birmingham and generate wider regional support for modernized rail and bus transit to boost metro Detroit’s economy.

   The group, under the auspices of Royal Oak-based economic and community development group Woodward Avenue Action Association, is preparing to apply for a federal grant of perhaps $2.5 million for a study of expanded transit options in six Oakland cities: Ferndale, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Berkley and Birmingham.

   The group also has support from Beaumont Hospital and the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak.

   Officially, the group isn’t choosing a specific mode of transit, but it’s clear that Detroit’s progress on light rail has suburban leaders thinking big — and getting ready for what could be transformative redevelopment along the region’s best-known thoroughfare.

   “They want to compete,” said Heather Carmona, the Woodward association’s executive director. “It’s a competition for economic viability, and Woodward Avenue is front and center in that. … The old adage is you grow or die, and people are seeing that.”

   The study — called an alternatives analysis — would measure population, traffic counts, travel patterns, cost effectiveness, community need and other factors and recommend options such as rapid-transit buses and light rail. The Federal Transit Administration requires such an analysis for communities seeking federal funds for public transportation projects.

   The Oakland group said the application could be turned in by October, and the analysis could begin in early 2012. A similar study in Detroit paved the way for the $550-million light rail project on Woodward that is to go from downtown to the State Fairgrounds near 8 Mile. It was paid in part with seed money from private investors and community organizations.

   Momentum is strong

   Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff is to convene a panel of officials today at Wayne State University from cities such as Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore. Regional leaders in those cities overcame political and financial obstacles to modernize and expand rail and other transit. The event is invitation-only for metro Detroit’s civic and business leaders.

   The gathering comes as the Obama administration is trying to help struggling big cities such as Detroit stabilize through concerted housing, economic development and transportation efforts in a program called Strong Cities, Strong Communities.

   Bob Berg, spokesman for the Woodward Light Rail Project, said Oakland’s interest shows suburban support for a rail system that some still doubt will ever be built, given metro Detroit’s history of failed transit dreams.

   “It certainly sends a signal that light rail is not just a Detroit-only vision,” Berg said. “The vision was never to have the line stop at 8 Mile. The idea was this would be the first leg of what would be a regional system.”

   Many questions remain

   The region’s political leaders have yet to agree on how to manage a regional transit network that could involve merging the Detroit Department of Transportation and suburban SMART bus systems. Nor have they determined how to pay to build and operate a system that would almost certainly require a regional tax subsidy. Most major U.S. metropolitanareas levy such a tax.

   Federal spending cuts also could mean less funding for roads and transit in the next couple of years. Rob Healy, vice president of government affairs for the American Public Transportation Association, said Washington is still determining which parts of the federal budget will take big cuts.

   “There’s certainly not a great deal of certainty” about whether the government will continue to pay for transit upgrades nationwide, Healy said. But metro Detroit has a leg up, given the Obama administration’s commitment to helping the region.

   Detroit expects final federal approval for its part of the Woodward project in September, freeing up a $25-million grant that the federal government awarded the city last year.

   Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said he would support expanded transit if voters are willing to pay to subsidize the system through a regional tax.

   “My question all along has been: How much is it going to cost, and who’s going to pay for it?” Patterson said. “If it comes, it will come with the will of the people.”

   • CONTACT MATT HELMS: 313-222-1450 OR MHELMS@FREEPRESS.COM