Grand River Project, BRT
Grand River Ave the longest spoke in terms
of its path through the city of Detroit and thus represents the road that would
benefit the most from improved mass transit as it would cover more of the
city. BRT or Rapid Bus Transit is the cheapest, quickest way to introduce
to a road. It involves dedicated bus lanes and preferential traffic lighting at
intersections, thus speeding the transit time for the buses on the line. It is
cheaper than a light rail line, requiring less construction and can be done
more quickly.
The plan is to set up such a line on Grand
River Ave from 8 Mile down to where it intersects with Woodward in
Downtown. The goal is to use such a line to extend Downtown’s development
into the city’s west side where the bulk of the population lives. Such a line
has the potential to relieve the pressure of residential demand on the city’s
downtown area by simple, affordable, and faster way to get from neighborhoods
on the city’s west side to downtown. This is important because residential
demand on the city’s downtown is far outpacing the available supply.
As cheap as BRT lines tend to be, they
usually require physical separation from the other lanes of traffic via a
barrier. Construction of such physical barrier over such a long line can
represent a prohibitive expenditure for a cash strapped city like Detroit. One
way to reduce the cost of such a line is to simple paint the barrier on the
road. Painted lines are often used of bike lines and could be an effective way
to reduce both cost and construction time in setting up such a BRT line. The
lines would most likely be set on the side of the road as opposed to the middle
to provide the most accessibility to riders.
Buses that use this line would have to be
outfitted with the necessary switch mechanism to activate the traffic signals
in their favor. These switches would
have to be placed on all public buses that travel Grand River and represent the
other major cost in setting up such a system.
