Proposal lays out Detroit's transit future

A proposal aims to put all the pieces of the city's transit puzzle together.

Excerpt:

Initially, hybrid bus routes would be established along the major roads, including connecting downtown Detroit with Detroit Metropolitan Airport via Michigan Avenue, with M-59 via Gratiot, and with Pontiac via Woodward. The plan also proposes to immediately increase the frequency among existing bus lines and improve the roadway.

The transit plan would then connect proposals already in the works, including the $371 million, 8-mile-long Woodward Avenue Light Rail Transit already approved by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, with an estimated construction date of 2011.

A separate privately funded-plan along a 3.4-mile stretch of Woodward in downtown Detroit is making headway under Hertel's leadership, with likely backing from major business leaders such as Mike Ilitch and Peter Karmanos. A commuter line over track used by Amtrak would connect Ann Arbor with Detroit's New Center, with a potential trial run beginning in 2010.

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