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Ann Arbor News (MI)
June 16, 2006
Author: JOHN MULCAHY, News Staff Reporter
He had to use three aging, blue and gold passenger cars that swayed their way slowly from an ad hoc boarding spot at Traver Road in Ann Arbor to Eight Mile Road in Northfield Township.
But with an already existing track, rolling stock and a railroad owner eager to participate, Mayor John Hieftje had a big advantage as he tried to sell his vision for commuter rail service to Ann Arbor.
Hieftje hosted the 90-minute train ride Thursday for about 60 politicians, business people, University of Michigan representatives, transportation experts and other interested people to show that a passenger rail service that could take thousands of cars off US-23 is not just an idle dream.
“We believe this could be a reality in three years,” Hieftje said in an interview during the train ride.
It would require upgrading the track so the train could travel at 60 mph, installing crossing gates at roads along the way, and building two, or possibly three stations. The total investment would be about $27 million, Hieftje said. A portion of that money would come from a federal program for small start-ups, he said.
Hieftje compared that to what he said was the $40 million investment required to provide 1,000 parking places in a parking structure in downtown Ann Arbor.
“There is just no good reason we can’t have rail transit in Ann Arbor,” Hieftje said.
The vision, as it now stands, would be for rail service from downtown Ann Arbor north to Eight Mile Road. The tracks north of Ann Arbor are owned by the state of Michigan but operated by the Great Lakes Central Railroad, formerly called Tuscola Saginaw Bay Railways. Within Ann Arbor, the line is owned by the Ann Arbor Railroad.
A station would probably be located somewhere in the Liberty and First streets area, according to the vision. At the northern end of the route, a 25-acre former industrial site on Eight Mile Road that Hieftje said is for sale, could serve as park-and-ride station for commuters. Another station might possibly be put somewhere in northern Ann Arbor to serve people going to large institutions such as Pfizer Corp.
A connector line, possibly a bus service with a dedicated lane, would transfer people from the north-south commuter rail station downtown to the University of Michigan Medical Center, where a stop is being proposed for another, east-west commuter rail now under consideration to connect Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Hieftje said he now hopes to bring together some of the decision-makers who took the train trip to figure out the next steps.
The biggest boost to Hieftje’s vision for the north-south rail probably is the enthusiasm of Louis P. Ferris Jr., CEO of Federated Financial Corporation of America, the company that owns Great Lakes Central Railroad.
“Our intention is to bring passenger rail service to the state of Michigan,” said Ferris, who spoke to the gathering on the train when it stopped at Eight Mile Road. “It’s a natural for us, because we have what it takes to put this together in terms of tracks, cars.”
The company owns engines and 52 cars adaptable for commuter service, Ferris said.
Eventually he wants to extend passenger service from Ann Arbor to Traverse City, Ferris said.
“It’s a give-back to where I was born and raised,” Ferris said during an interview. “I just believe it’s time to do it.”
Originally from Detroit, Ferris now lives in Superior Township.
Many of those invited on the trip appeared predisposed to favor a commuter rail, and their enthusiasm showed.
“I think it’s almost essential, very vital to the success of everything that has to happen,” said Phelps Connell, a Pittsfield Township resident and member of the 208 Group, an organization of citizens who support energy savings, sustainable lifestyles and similar causes.
“Ann Arbor is definitely missing a rail connection,” said Connell, who used to live in Chicago.
Wayne Say, another 208 Group member and former interim executive director of the Washtenaw Land Trust, said development would occur along a successful commuter rail route, saving land elsewhere.
“You take the spring out of sprawl that would otherwise occur,” Say said.
Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell, who is also chairwoman of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Transportation Advisory Council, said she is a strong backer of the rail commuter idea, even though it won’t immediately serve Saline.
“It will happen some day,” Driskell said.
A spur of the Ann Arbor Railroad south of Ann Arbor goes to Saline, according to a map provided by the city, and some hope to extend the service southward after it gets started.
One major issue promoters of the service will have to face is getting the agreement of the Ann Arbor Railroad to use its lines. So far, that railroad has not said it is willing to participate, said Eli Cooper, transportation program manager for Ann Arbor.
John Mulcahy can be reached at jmulcahy@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6858.
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Copyright, 2006, The Ann Arbor News. All Rights Reserved.