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Long-awaited Detroit streetcar project breaks ground

After a series of fits and starts, Detroit's M1 Rail project breaks ground today.

A short stretch of Woodward Avenue will be shut down today as construction gets underway.

The streetcar line will run 3.3 miles from downtown to New Center, and will have 12 stops.

More than a dozen private donors, led by Roger Penske, kicked in $100 million of the project's $140 million price tag.

The project's backers say it will help along the resurgence that's already underway in that part of the city.

Critics say money for transit would be much better spent on the city's aging bus system.

View the construction schedule here.

Sarah Hulett is Michigan Public's Director of Amplify & Longform, helping reporters to do their best work.