Ann Arbor-Detroit rail project on track for 2010
Long-term funding could be issue for line, which includes stop in W. Dearborn
By Jason Carmel Davis, Press & Guide Newspapers.
PUBLISHED: July 13, 2008
DEARBORN - By fall 2010, residents of Dearborn will be able to hop on a train and head to downtown Detroit to take in a Tigers game or a show at the Detroit Opera House.
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And visitors to the city will be able to hop off a train at the Henry Ford and walk directly into the museum, walk to West Downtown Dearborn, or head to the University of Michigan-Dearborn or Fairlane Town Center.
That's because a proposed Ann Arbor to Detroit regional rail project is on track for completion in October 2010, according to Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).
Palombo said SEMCOG is awaiting estimates from the Norfolk Southern Rail Company and the Canadian National Railway as to what the cost would be to make necessary improvements along the proposed route, which, Palombo said, would allow for alternative routes and additional trains.
"As soon as we get that information, we should be set to go," Palombo said. "Everything's going fairly smoothly."
SEMCOG has looked into the feasibility of a commuter rail between the two major cities for more than a year now. The concept would be to rely on existing infrastructure as much as possible as a system was developed to shuttle people between Detroit, Ann Arbor and Metro Airport.
Palombo said the question of where the stop that will service Detroit Metropolitan Airport will sit. So far, stations are already planned for Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, a Detroit Metro Airport stop, a stop at the Henry Ford in Dearborn and near the New Center Area in downtown Detroit.
Amtrak is at the heart of the issue, as, if the mass transit project comes to fruition, the city would like to move its train station from its current post near the Dearborn Police Department further west near the Henry Ford on Elm Street, according to city of Dearborn Director of Economic & Community Development Barry Murray. The new station, which would be called an intermodal station, would also serve as a transportation hub and feature a bus station, taxi and limousine service.
"If we're able to move the station, people can just get right off and go to the Henry Ford or go straight to the Michigan Avenue businesses," Murray said. "This will all go along with (city officials') vision of having a 21st century rail station, along with going along with plans for the redevelopment of the city."
The Ann Arbor-to-Detroit line would be regional, Murray said, and be a Michigan Department of Transportation project. Amtrak, the railway at the heart of the project, is an inner-city railway.
The city of Dearborn received a $1 million grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation to conduct a study focusing on the feasibility of the proposed railway system, Murray said.
But Palombo said that although the project is progressing nicely, there is still no long-term source of funding for the railway. He said the idea is to have a three- to five-year look at ridership before determining the long-term future of the railway.
"We have some leads on long-term funding," Palombo said. "We have some federal money set aside, but we may have to talk to each community that's involved, each county and (the Michigan Department of Transportation.
"Even though everything is going well right now, there are still some things we need to look at."
Contact News Editor Jason Carmel Davis at (313) 359-7820 or
jadavis@heritage.com.
http://www.pressandguide.com/stories...80713003.shtml
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