Metro Magazine

JUN 2013

Magazine serving the bus and rail transit & motorcoach operations since 1904

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2013 RAIL SURVEY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 AT A GLANCE Tis year's Top Rail Projects features three new construction projects, including the Florida Department of Transportation's $615 million SunRail project (No. 27); the City of Tucson Department of Transportation's $196 million Sun Link streetcar project (No. 38); and Detroit's M-1 Rail $137 million streetcar project. Further analysis of this year's numbers show respondents have 3,409 new railcars on order, with a majority of those vehicles expected to be heavy railcars. Tis year, METRO Magazine listed 40 projects and highlighted three transit projects with more in depth coverage. If you know an agency with plans for the future, but were omitted from this year's survey, please let us know so that we can include it next year. METRO would also like to send a special thanks to all the agencies for taking the time to fll out our surveys and continuing to participate in this annual feature. ARIZONA'S 3.9-MILE STREETCAR PROJECT 80% COMPLETE DETROIT'S WOODWARD AVENUE STREETCAR PROJECT MOVES FORWARD Tucson, Ariz.'s Sun Link streetcar project is part of the $2.1 billion Regional Transportation Plan, approved by Pima County voters in May 2006. The project is funded by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), as well as federal and other regional funds. In January, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood confirmed a $25 million federal grant to Detroit's M-1 Rail, which will go toward building the 3.3-mile Woodward Avenue Streetcar Project. Construction of the project began in April 2012 with an aggressive build schedule that calls for completion within 475 days. The City of Tucson and the RTA are co-managing the project, which is currently in phase two of construction and 80% complete. In April, M-1 received clearance from the Federal Transit Administration for the Woodward streetcar project through the issuance of the Amended Record of Decision. This was the final approval step under the National Environmental Policy Act process and allows the project to move ahead to the next phases of design, right of way acquisition and construction. The 3.9-mile streetcar line represents the Tucson's largest construction project to date, generating some 500 constructions jobs. Construction of the line segment portion of the project has progressed well and is currently on schedule and within budget, but there are some challenges, explains Project Manager Shellie Ginn. "A major component of this project has been locating, relocating and upgrading underground utilities along the route — and in some instances, the existing utilities were over 70 years old and were quite compromised," she says. "Utility-related issues necessitated several redesigns and delayed the project schedule in some areas. Additionally, the production of the vehicles for the system has been delayed due to technical difficulties with the vehicle manufacturer, our nation's only domestic manufacturer of streetcar vehicles." The project team is expecting delivery of the first streetcar vehicle later this summer and the second vehicle sometime in the fall. Because of the requirement to test each vehicle before launching passenger service, which is slated for late summer 2014, passenger service will be impacted by when vehicle tests are complete. The project has generated more than 500 construction jobs, 1,500 new housing units, and more than $800 million in private investment to-date, with new restaurants, businesses and entertainment venues already opening along the streetcar route, according to Ginn. "The streetcar is also an important new, 'green' transit option that will make it easier to connect to other communities in our region beyond downtown and the University [of Arizona] areas," she adds. "Sun Link has allowed the university to expand its landlocked campus into Tucson's downtown, opening a downtown campus and two large student living complexes." 28 < mETRO mAGAZINE JUNE 2013 The vision for a rail line along the Woodward Corridor has been in existence since 2007, and it has gone through a number of iterations — in technology and actual cars and total distance. This was done as more information on infrastructure, ridership projections, overall safety, financial feasibility and other factors became available, with the final design taking into consideration all of those factors and more, according to Heather Carmona, M-1's chief administrative officer. "The current and final 3.3-mile streetcar circulator plan that is now in place was also one of the earliest iterations of the M-1 Rail plan," she says. "There was a period of time that a more ambitious 9.3-mile light rail transit plan to 8 Mile that was proposed in partnership with the city, however, that plan eventually stalled when it could not meet key ridership, funding and other criteria. M-1 Rail, as an ambition, did not falter however, as the work for the original plan was still valid and beneficial to the community good." M-1 RAIL's work has become an unprecedented model in the region for public-private will and cooperation, adds Carmona, with the streetcar project becoming central to many people's thinking as a first step of connective tissue in the geographic heart of the region. "We are developing a streetcar line that is expected to be an economic driver for the Woodward Corridor, generating more than $500 million worth of economic development," she says. "For many across our community, the belief is that someday the streetcar will become the centerpiece for a seamless transit system that connects Detroiters and people throughout the region to jobs and prosperity; thriving businesses; and retail, sporting and cultural activities." metro-magazine.com

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