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Dan Gilbert Wins Naming Rights To M-1 Rail Project

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) -- Billionaire Dan Gilbert and his company Quicken Loans will be responsible for giving the M-1 Rail its name.

According to Crain's Detroit Business, Gilbert donated nearly $10 million to the currently unnamed project. Gilbert, who owns over 70 properties downtown, will also bring high-speed fiber internet service to the entire area later this year.

The streetcar project will run 3.3 miles along Woodward Avenue between downtown and New Center neighborhoods.

[MORE: M-1 Rail Project Announces Station Sponsors, Federal Funding]

The rail line is scheduled for completion in late 2016 and will have 16 curbside and four median passenger stations. It will run in a 6.6-mile loop from Detroit's riverfront along Woodward Avenue to the New Center area and is expected to spur economic and job growth along the corridor.

The federal government has committed more than $37 million this year to the $140 million project. The government requires that U.S.-based transportation infrastructure projects be built with American-made products.

 

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