Interesting. Suburbanites in Metro Detroit are fighting for a commuter rail station. This is the line that officials decided to move forward on anyway, after it was rejected by the FTA for funding. It should serve as an example of what needs to be done here if we want a decent alternate method of transit before we all leave the Earth.
3 cities look to land key train stop
BY CECIL ANGEL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • May 12, 2008
When a long-planned commuter rail line eventually begins taking hundreds of passengers daily between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Joyce Parker wants Inkster to be in the mix.
As Inkster's city manager, she knows what a train stop would mean for a city with high unemployment and where only 1 in 3 households have access to a car, Parker said.
"It opens up opportunities," she said.
After three decades of starts and stops in planning a regional mass transit rail system in southeast Michigan, the commuter rail link between Ann Arbor and Detroit -- with a stop in Dearborn -- is slowly moving toward reality, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
With gasoline prices creeping up, such a rail line would be an alternative for commuters, and jobs, retail options and tax dollars to the cities where the train stops.
But snagging a place on the route won't be easy. Westland and Wayne are vying for the same stop. Wayne is touting its redeveloped downtown as a natural fit for such a station. Westland points to available land near a heavy retail area.
The winning city would provide shuttle service to Metro Airport.
The move comes as the City of Detroit studies plans for a light-rail line from downtown to 8 Mile."I think the climate in the region has really changed and they realize the benefits of transit," said Lovevett Williams, interim director of the Detroit Department of Transportation.
SEMCOG and other supporters of a regional rail system say the Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter line will be in operation by 2010. The corridor is ripe for such project, according to SEMCOG, because it has four of the 10 largest cities in southeast Michigan and the major employment centers of Detroit, Dearborn and Ann Arbor. A final cost for the project hasn't been set.
The commuter line will use the existing Amtrak train line from Chicago to Pontiac. A shuttle would ferry passengers from the new station to Metro Airport.Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit all have Amtrak stations and are guaranteed stops.
For Wayne, Westland and Inkster, a new stop could mean an economic boost.
Some studies have shown that for every dollar invested in mass transit, a community can reap $7 to $8 in economic benefit. That's because stores, restaurants and other businesses spring up around commuter transit stops to take advantage of the flow of customers."That's part of the reason we've been pushing so hard in regards to this issue," Parker said.
Train service would enable Inkster residents to have access to jobs in other areas and to commute to Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan and other schools, Parker said.
The stop would help the city with commercial and retail development. "It certainly would help us market and redevelop the area," said Parker, referring to the city's tax increment finance district.
Wayne makes a pushIn Wayne, Peter McInerney, community development director, said officials there see downtown Wayne as the logical and customer-friendly choice.
He said possible locations could be the intersection of Wayne Road and the railroad tracks. There is a new shopping center at Michigan and Wayne where a station could be given space.
"We think that it would provide an attractive setting for people who want to make that airport connection," McInerney said.
Downtown Wayne has some new commercial development including a new shopping center and condos. A station could draw tenants and build demand for condos in the business district, he said.
It could mean a livelier downtown in the evenings with diners and shoppers instead of activity dropping in the early evening, McInerney said.
Westland wants a stopWestland Planning Director Bruce Thompson said the city has been working with SEMCOG and state lawmakers to make the project a reality.
"If we could be involved, I think it could be wonderful," he said, adding that an empty field at Merriman and Michigan would be a good site for a train station.
The train station has the potential to provide an "economic shot in the arm for that area of Westland," Thompson said.If the city is chosen, the train station would likely be built at Merriman and Michigan, he said. Carmine Palombo, director of tranportation programs for SEMCOG, said the cities have lobbied for the station, but SEMCOG is still analyzing locations.
Among the issues being analyzed is the ease and speed at which the service can be provided.
"That will be the criteria we'll weigh the heaviest," Palombo said.
Another city eyeing the project is Dearborn, whose officials foresee a direct link between U-M in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. City officials want to spend between $12 million and $15 million to build an Intermodal Rail Passenger Station.
Barry Murray, director of Economic and Community Development for Dearborn, said the station would be relocated from the Dearborn Civic Center to Elm Street and Michigan Avenue.
"We think it's very important," Murray said. "It makes us more competitive in the arena to attract young professionals."Meanwhile, Detroit is working on getting its light-rail line running.
Williams said the Michigan Department of Transportation plans to build a station to replace the Amtrak station at Baltimore and Woodward.
The station would serve the Ann Arbor to Detroit and the Woodward Avenue rail systems.
Construction is projected to begin in 2010 on the $371-million light-rail system on Woodward that will run from downtown to the Michigan State Fairgrounds with stops at 13 to 15 stations.
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