Detroit starts $160M project to replace DDOT terminal, promising boost for drivers, riders

Work started Thursday on a $160 million project that city of Detroit officials say should move the city closer to turning a corner on the struggles of its public bus service.

After a few speeches from city officials, demolition began on the former Coolidge Terminal on Schaefer Highway, which served as a Detroit Department of Transportation bus garage until it closed in 2011 because of a fire. In place of the structure that dates to about 1928, a 200,000-square-foot. three-building complex for maintenance, bus storage and administration needs to serve as DDOT’s west side base of operations will rise in the coming years.

Mayor Mike Duggan said the project, paired with the transit center being built at the old state fairgrounds, will make a difference for DDOT staff and riders.

“Everybody knows we don’t run a first-class bus operation in the city of Detroit, but we’re going to. We have the talent, the management, the operators and the mechanics to run a first-class system,” Duggan said. “We need to put more buses on the road. They need to be clean. They need to be in good working order, and I feel very good that this is a huge step in the right direction.”

Duggan said these projects will help address long-deferred expenses. He noted that the 2011 fire had forced DDOT to jam operations into the east-side Shoemaker Terminal near Interstate 94 and Conner Avenue, and the Gilbert Terminal on Rosa Parks Boulevard, west of Midtown.

“It hasn’t been optimal, and we’ve been trying to recover ever since,” Duggan said.

Once the new terminal complex is complete, the Gilbert Terminal will be decommissioned, according to the city. The new terminal will be designed to accommodate 24-hour operations, starting with 144 buses and the capacity to expand to 216 buses.

The project was delayed by Detroit’s bankruptcy in 2013. Now, with $102.5 million from the Federal Transit Administration, $31.5 million from the city and $25.6 million from the Michigan Department of Transportation, the new Coolidge complex can move forward, according to the city.

Michael Staley, DDOT’s interim executive director, said new facilities should help the department address its ongoing driver shortage. He said DDOT currently needs about 500 drivers with only about 370 currently active drivers. Because of service goals set by the mayor, the department will need 600 active drivers by September 2024, he said.

“We have a driver shortage right now and that has a direct impact on our ability to pull out on time every day and our ability to maintain the scheduling. The hope and expectation is with the working environment and 21st-century facility, it’ll be easier to attract more people and retain the drivers that we do have,” he said.

Riki Yamakura, DDOT’s capital projects manager, said “our intention is to make this the home away from home for our drivers.”

The project is expected to be complete by 2026.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Duggan: $160M DDOT project to help city build first-class bus service