An update on Wally (Washtenaw & Livingston Line) commuter rail line. Like all of the other projects, this is years in the making, and seems like it will be years more.
Quote:
AATA Gets WALLY Update
By Ann Arbor Chronicle Staff
April 19, 2012
At its April 19, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board received a written report in its board packet with a eight-page update on the status of WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Railway), which is envisioned to provide north-south commuter rail service between Howell and Ann Arbor.
The conclusion of the report is a staff recommendation to expend funds ($50,000) already included in the FY 2012 budget that are designated for the WALLY project. The report includes a draft resolution that the board could use to authorize the funds.
Ordinarily, the expenditure of funds from the budget would not necessarily need an explicit board authorization. However, in the case of the WALLY project, the board stipulated in a Sept. 15, 2011 resolution that the $50,000 designated for WALLY in the FY 2012 budget would not be expended without the explicit consent of the board.
One of the challenges for WALLY is the cooperation of the Ann Arbor Railroad in the use of the tracks south of roughly Barton and Plymouth Roads on the north side of Ann Arbor. Ideally, the commuter service would extend farther south into Ann Arbor. The report contains a description of an Oct. 12, 2011 meeting between Ann Arbor Railroad president Jim Erickson and AATA CEO Michael Ford, when Ann Arbor Railroad’s expressed continued general opposition to passenger service on its property. However, the meeting offered some possibility that Ann Arbor Railroad would at least work with AATA on the issue of railcar storage immediately south of a WALLY station. And the report describes Ann Arbor Railroad as willing to entertain a “business proposition.”
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Apparently, the freight provider is holding this up.
BTW, latest update (April '12) on SEMCOG Commuter Rail (Ann Arbor-Detroit) is that the FTA is requesting a comprehensive capacity analysis be done before SEMCOG and MDOT starts the environmental assessment. I believe this delay occurred because they are now trying to coordinate both the Amtramk service and the commuter service on this line, as well as any future high-speed service.
In light rail news, LaHood announced he's extending the deadline for M-1 Rail until next month:
Quote:
LaHood delays decision on M-1 light rail project until May
By David Shepardson | The Detroit News
April 18, 2012
Washington— Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is postponing a decision on the proposed M-1 light rail project up Woodward Avenue for at least another month.
In January, LaHood gave backers of the project 90 days to show that the light-rail is feasible. The advocates were to meet with federal officials, but Lahood is postponing that meeting for at least a month.
The 90-day-period ran out on Monday, but LaHood said he spoke on Tuesday to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing to give the project's supporters more time.
"I'm still optimistic based on what I've heard from the M-1 people," LaHood said.
LaHood said he wanted to give Bing — who has recently been hospitalized — more time to work on the project. LaHood has also spoken recently with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, about the delay.
LaHood said he plans to travel in Detroit in mid- to late-May to discuss the project's future.
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LaHood expects M-1 advocates will submit their proposal shortly — and by May the department will be in a better position to know whether the project will qualify for a $25 million federal grant.
He said the delay also will give the Michigan state Legislature more time to act to approve a regional transit system. "All of these things seems to be moving in the right direction," LaHood said.
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BTW, looks like
M-1 Rail has their website back up.