(rshsdepot) Mount Joy, PA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Mount Joy seeks state, county funding for train station project

Intelligencer Journal
1-30-02

Mount Joy Borough is seeking $430,000 from the state Department of
Transportation in the next two years to begin work on a new train station.
Also, borough council has requested that $215,000 be added to the Lancaster
County Transportation Improvement Plan for 2003 and 2004. This would allow
for the release of state funds to the project, which would serve as a
passenger train station, bus depot and taxi service pick-up point.
The plan would relocate the station from South Market and Henry streets to
the corner of South Barbara and East Donegal streets. It would include a
pedestrian bridge across the tracks, a raised platform at the tracks with
ramps to street level, enclosures on both platforms and an informational
area with bus and train schedules, according to a feasibility study released
by the borough.
Ultimately, the new station would even include a retail establishment.
"We'd like to have something that would cater to the passengers," said Mount
Joy Borough Manager Terry Kauffman. He suggested a coffee shop or newsstand
as two possibilities.
The current station, which is used daily by about 40 passengers, is not
accessible to disabled riders. The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed
in 1990, requires all such facilities comply or be closed by 2010. The
borough and surrounding municipalities are concerned Amtrak will close the
station rather than renovate it.
Total cost of the plan is estimated at $2.2 million, with 80 percent coming
from the state and 20 percent being funded by the borough, surrounding
municipalities and Amtrak, according to the study. The station is scheduled
for completion in 2006.
The new station could be tied to plans for Amtrak stations in Paradise and
Elizabethtown under the Lancaster County Transportation Authority. This
could save money on engineering and construction costs, said Kauffman, who
is also director of the authority. The borough also could oversee the
construction by itself.
Kauffman said, "If this is included, council will have to determine how to
move the funds."

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