M-1 Rail officials presented at the Downtown Detroit Partnership’s summer stakeholder meeting last week, telling the crowd their goal is to minimize the impact the construction of the 3.3-mile streetcar circulator has on businesses, residents, pedestrians and visitors of the Woodward Avenue corridor.
With construction scheduled to begin by late summer/early fall of this year, M-1’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Childs along with Director of Governmental and Community Affairs, Sommer Woods presented some of their planning details to the people who attended the meeting at the Compuware Building.
Construction for the streetcar line will occur in two segments with the first segment -- Larned to Adams -- scheduled to break ground this year.
Details discussed include:
• Woodward Avenue will be closed to traffic and pedestrians but clearly marked detours will be available. Construction is expected to be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
• All cross-streets will be accessible during construction except for when active work needs to take place in the intersection. Anticipated time for closure for each intersection is four calendar days.
• One lane of vehicular traffic will be maintained around Campus Martius Park during construction.
• DDOT, SMART and Transit Windsor will maintain service during construction and M-1 Rail is working with them to redirect bus routes and create temporary stops.
• Utility service interruptions will be avoided when possible; however when necessary stakeholders will be given 5-days advance notice.
• Access for emergency responders will be maintained at all times. A complete emergency access plan is being developed.
• Crosswalks will still be provided at major intersections.
• Sidewalks will be provided during construction; however, they will be no larger than six-feet in width.
• Limited number of short-term sidewalk closures may be required, but will occur on one side of street during off-peak hours.
Construction of Segment 2 -- north of Adams to West Grand Boulevard -- will begin next year.