A bill pending in Michigan Legislature would allow for the creation of a nonprofit street railway company — with the authority to issue bonds — to further an effort to build a $103 million light-rail system in Detroit.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit, would allow the Michigan Department of Transportation to set up transit development finance zones that would act like a tax increment financing district by setting aside future increases in tax revenue. The money would finance the public portion of the proposed new light-rail system along Woodward Avenue, a major Detroit thoroughfare.
Another bill would allow the state to appropriate money to the system.
Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, who is introducing a similar set of bills, said the goal is to establish similar rail systems across Michigan, not just in Detroit, according to local reports.
The plan to build a 3.4-mile light-rail line along Woodward Avenue is separate from the Detroit Department of Transportation's plan to build a $372 million light-rail system along the same corridor.
