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M1-RAIL
on track
with
$12.2
Million
Federal
Grant
from
U.S. DOT
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
The
M1-Rail
project
will
stay on
track
thanks
to a
$12.2
million
federal
grant
announced
Monday
in
Detroit
by U. S
Transportation
Secretary
Anthony
Fox, it
will go
toward
construction
of 3.1
streetcar
line.
A cross
section
of
public
and
private
partners,
led by
M1-Rail
CEO Matt
Cullen,
joined
Secretary
Fox for
announcement
held at
Grand
Circus,
the
third
stop on
the
MI-rail
line
which
began
construction
in July.
M-1 RAIL
Board
Chairman
and
project
donor
Roger
Penske
said “We
are on
time, on
target,
and on
board to
get this
done in
2016. We
are
going to
have a
Super
Bowl
every
day when
the
streetcar
runs
between
New
Center
and
Downtown.”
Also for
the
first
time,
the
station
sponsors
were
revealed
for each
of the
streetcar
stations.
While
the
stations
names
will be
designated
based on
the
street
or area
where
the cars
stop,
the
sponsors
will be
recognized
as part
of the
station
design.
“It’s
unprecedented
that the
private
and
philanthropic
leadership
of a
community
commit
more
than
$100
million
to
design,
build,
and
operate
a public
streetcar
line and
through
its
TIGER
grant,
USDOT
has
reaffirmed
its
commitment
to
Detroit
and M-1
RAIL,”
said M-1
RAIL
President
and CEO
Matthew
P.
Cullen.
“The M-1
donors
have
expressed
unyielding
support
since
the
beginning.
Their
significant
contributions
of time,
talent
and
resources
have
helped
to keep
this
vision
on track
and for
that we
are
forever
grateful.”
Detroit
is one
of 72
transportation
projects
nationwide
selected
to
receive
funding
from the
Department
of
Transportation’s
TIGER
(Transportation
Investment
Generating
Economic
Recovery)
Program.
“As
uncertainty
about
the
future
of
long-term
federal
funding
continues,
this
round of
TIGER
will be
a shot
in the
arm for
that
innovation,
job-creating
and
quality
of
life-enhancing
projects’
said
Secretary
Fox.
The
transit
system
will
give
mobility
and
connectivity
to an
estimated
135,000
workers
and
36,000
residents
in the
downtown
and
Midtown
neighborhoods.
It will
help
continue
revitalization
of
Woodward
Avenue
which is
home to
40
percent
of all
the jobs
in
Detroit
and
attracts
15
million
visitors
a year.
Governor
Rick
Snyder,
Mayor
Mike
Duggan,
members
of U.S.
Congressional
delegation
and the
Detroit
City
Council
and
local
business
leaders
all
spoke
during
the
Monday’s
announcement
about
the
importance
of the
public/private
partnerships
that
came
together
to make
the M-1
Rail
project
a
reality,
after
seven
years.
The 3.1
mile
streetcar
will
start
taking
rider
along 20
stations
serving
12
locations
in 2016.
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