Detroit Free Press: Group looks at mass transit on Woodward

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Group looks at mass transit on Woodward
October 10, 2007

BY BILL LAITNER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

For decades, people have talked of improving mass transit on Woodward Avenue.

Now, some architects and city planners have banded together to prepare.

They plan to meet Friday in Pleasant Ridge for the first of a series of meetings along Woodward about transit-oriented design.

Examples could be as simple as deluxe bus shelters or as imposing as having high-rise condominiums built over retail space along light-rail lines, said George Lenko, a Pleasant Ridge city commissioner and 25-year resident of the city.

"This is a little like the chicken or the egg. Historically in southeast Michigan we haven't had mass transit.

"But we're hoping that, if we create the right designs, it will be very compatible to having mass transit someday," Lenko said Tuesday.

The designs should be transit-friendly to bicyclists and walkers, giving metro Detroiters an alternative to driving everywhere, he said. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710100362