Detroit light rail moves forward

Detroit -- Leaders of a $125 million light rail project said Thursday they have reached an agreement to collaborate with the city on a three-mile plan to link city riders in a local transit system.

The privately funded M-1 Rail, an approximately 3.4 mile, 12-stop route from Hart Plaza to Grand Boulevard, would be the "first phase" of a Detroit Department of Transportation's proposed $371 million project. That plan, the Detroit Transit Options for Growth, calls for a light rail to extend from Grand to Eight Mile, said Matthew Cullen, M-1 project president and CEO.

"We were always going to make sure we were compatible," he said of the transit plans. "We're totally motivated to be linked up with them. It is really an important step in having a real regional rapid transit system."

Norman White, formerly of DDOT, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Meagan Pitts, a city spokeswoman, said officials are continuing talks but couldn't provide details.

M-1 project leaders are still securing funding. The transit line could begin construction as early as this year and be running within two years, Cullen said. Its cars will run along both sides of Woodward.

The project so far has netted about $65 million in donations from foundations and other groups, he said. Detroit's Downtown Development Authority voted earlier this year to contribute $9 million to the project, and state lawmakers last year agreed to support operating costs.

Cullen said both M-1 Rail and the DDOT project, which the DTOG said could carry an estimated 22,200 daily riders, are expected to be part of a regional mass transportation plan linking the tricounty area to downtown.

The plan was approved in December by leaders of the city as well as Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. John Hertel, CEO of the Detroit Regional Mass Transit group, told The Detroit News last year a cooperative governing body could be established to oversee the rail system.