Woodward communities form task force to discuss transportation vision

Thursday, December 2, 2010 | Source: Metromode

When it comes to public transportation on Woodward north of Eight Mile, the communities are coming together to make sure everyone is on board.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association has formed a task force of officials from Berkley, Birmingham, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, and Royal Oak, to work together on transit vision. At this point, their goal is to get the communities around the table to discuss what they and the others would like to see, says Heather Carmona, WA3's executive director.

The task force, she explains, is the WA3's response to the community members who were concerned about the lack of consensus about what transit should be north of Eight Mile Road. With the latest news about the Woodward Light Rail receiving funding, there had never really been much discussion about what was needed or wanted north of Detroit, in Oakland County, specifically in the communities along Woodward.

"Our goal was, how can we bring these elected officials to the table?" Carmona poses. "What shape should transit take on Woodward in south Oakland County?"

Melanie Piana, a Ferndale city councilmember and the associate director of Michigan Suburbs Alliance, which is also represented on the task force, says that among her goals after she joined the council in January was building relationships with the other Woodward communities. "I think it's a good thing any time our cities can collaborate on achieving something together," she says. "Since we all share the same corridor, it makes sense for us to strengthen our relationships and share ideas for goals and visions, and how we would like to see our communities grow."

The members are looking at what the communities share along Woodward, what the cities are planning, and how to better connect them. They're trying to stay away from discussing type of transportation and where the stops would be, taking more of a macro view.

They do agree, though, that whatever transit option is put in place won't just end at Eight Mile. "I think it is a natural progression of the hard work our Detroit counterparts have been doing over the last couple of years, and now we can do our hard work to make sure we can connect together," Piana says.

The task force hopes to have a resolution for all the communities to support before the holidays, and then work on a list of goals and objectives.

Sources: Heather Carmona, executive director of the Woodward Avenue Action Association; Melanie Piana, Ferndale city council member
Writer: Kristin Lukowski