Huntington Woods Mayor Sounds Off on Regional Development Issues

Crain's Detroit Business recently featured a letter from Huntington Woods Mayor Ronald Gillham that tackled regional development issues.

In the letter published Jan. 13, Gillham sounded off on regional transit and redevelopment of the Michigan State Fairgrounds site in Detroit.

The mayor reflected on a trip to Cleveland to study the city's transportation system, which he described as "eye-opening" Tuesday during the Huntington Woods City Commission meeting.

"I only hope that we in the Detroit area will also be able to have such a system," he wrote of Cleveland's rapid transit buses. "As a member of the Woodward Avenue Association, I still hope for a positive future for not just Woodward Avenue but for much more of the Detroit metro area."

Gillham also wrote that redevelopment of the former fairgrounds at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road should be part of any regional transportation system and that he would prefer to see a multimodal stop located at the site.

"It seems that the confluence of Woodward Avenue, Eight Mile Road and Amtrak rail would be a natural for a multimodal station in the future," he wrote. "... Increasing the availability of the site to the larger metro area, as it grows into the future, will enhance its viability as an attractive area for retail, entertainment and residential uses."

[Do you agree with the mayor? Leave a comment!]