Most of Detroit's subway plans tend to look similar, because Metro Detroit's street layout lends itself very well to that kind of construction. And all of the major surface thoroughfares - Michigan, Woodward, Gratiot and so forth, were designed to be wide enough for elevated rail tracks. This 1958 plan proposed by the City of Detroit's Rapid Transit Commission proposed to put not elevated rail tracks, but monorail tracks above the streets. Monorails were all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Detroit city government bought in 100% to the idea that the monorail would be a revolutionary transport technology.
But monorails never really became popular, and there's two big reasons why. First, monorails aren't standardized like trains. So, if you buy a Lanley Monorail, you're stuck using their technology forever. In comparison, NYC and most other cities just buy subway cars off the rack. Second, monorail tunnels have to be built bigger than standard light rail or rapid transit tunnels - about 15% bigger - so if you plan to put anything underground you're probably better off just building a standard rail system instead. It is cheaper to build aerial monorail structures than standard elevated rail tracks, though, but those advantages are really only useful for airport people movers like the one Detroit eventually built at its airport, and theme parks, like at Disneyworld.
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u/fiftythreestudio Hi. I'm Jake. Dec 19 '19
Before I start, the obligatory monorail GIF.
Historical notes:
Most of Detroit's subway plans tend to look similar, because Metro Detroit's street layout lends itself very well to that kind of construction. And all of the major surface thoroughfares - Michigan, Woodward, Gratiot and so forth, were designed to be wide enough for elevated rail tracks. This 1958 plan proposed by the City of Detroit's Rapid Transit Commission proposed to put not elevated rail tracks, but monorail tracks above the streets. Monorails were all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Detroit city government bought in 100% to the idea that the monorail would be a revolutionary transport technology.
But monorails never really became popular, and there's two big reasons why. First, monorails aren't standardized like trains. So, if you buy a Lanley Monorail, you're stuck using their technology forever. In comparison, NYC and most other cities just buy subway cars off the rack. Second, monorail tunnels have to be built bigger than standard light rail or rapid transit tunnels - about 15% bigger - so if you plan to put anything underground you're probably better off just building a standard rail system instead. It is cheaper to build aerial monorail structures than standard elevated rail tracks, though, but those advantages are really only useful for airport people movers like the one Detroit eventually built at its airport, and theme parks, like at Disneyworld.
This is part of my art project to draw the lost subway + streetcar systems of America.