(rshsdepot) Tuscaloosa, AL

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Photo links:
http://www.geocities.com/jeff_robertson/rail/photos/rail3.jpg  (corner of
station with NS engine)
http://lib2.clark.cc.oh.us/amtrak/amtStationTZ/TuscaloosaAL.jpg

Amtrak woes may threaten hub

By Marla Luster
Staff Writer - The Tuscaloosa News
March 22, 2002

TUSCALOOSA | A proposed transportation hub that could help revitalize a
blighted area around Tuscaloosa's aging train station is in limbo because of
the uncertain status of Amtrak's service to the city.
The City Council wants to know what effect the loss of Amtrak would have on
a $1.9 million federal allocation that the city plans to use to rehabilitate
the aging train station on Greensboro Avenue and surrounding property into
an intermodal transportation center.
Amtrak has proposed eliminating the Crescent line, which serves Tuscaloosa,
if it does not receive a $1.2 billion federal subsidy for the 2003 fiscal
year.
The city's allocation would be used to renovate the Amtrak station and
construct a 10,000 square foot intermodal facility nearby that would house
the transit authority and other modes of transportation, including buses,
trains, taxis and rental cars.
"If the city loses Amtrak, what effect would that have on the grant?" asked
Joe Robinson, director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation,
explaining the concerns of council members.
The council's finance committee wants an answer before it agrees to pay for
an environmental assessment that the city must complete before the grant
money is released.
The city faces a Sept. 30 deadline, when the grant will expire, to finish
studies on air quality,
materials and on buildings in the area to see if they have historical value.
The deadline had already been extended from last September. An environmental
engineering firm, Burk-Kleinpeter, estimated that the assessment could be
finished by Sept. 27 if the process began Wednesday. The studies have not
begun.
Robinson said he hopes to contract with Burke-Kleinpeter to do the
environmental assessment by next week. He said that if it didn't get the
studies done in time, the city could reapply for the grant to avoid losing
the money.
The finance committee could make a decision Tuesday after officials talk
with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who was responsible for including the
grant money for the intermodal center in the Transportation Equity Act for
the 21st Century.
The act, which Congress must renew every five years, designates funding for
public transportation.
But Shelby is also a staunch opponent of the federal Amtrak subsidy.
The council's public projects committee agreed Tuesday to start negotiating
costs for the environmental assessment with Burke-Kleinpeter, Councilman Joe
Powell said.
About a year ago, the planning department submitted an environmental
assessment to the Federal Transit Administration Department, but the agency
had more questions.
That's when Robinson thought about getting help from an engineering firm.
"The studies are a little more in-depth than we thought they would be," said
Councilman Harrison Taylor, whose district includes the train station area.
Some council members said they are optimistic that plans for the
transportation center will materialize.
"Even if the intermodal facility were somehow scaled back due to lack of
Amtrak, I think the project would have great importance for the area that it
's in because of the blighted nature of that community," Powell said.
"I don't think Amtrak staying or not will effect this," said Taylor, who
sits on the finance committee. "We hope it doesn't; we need a clarification
on it in the next few days."
Taylor said the benefits of the intermodal center would outweigh the costs
the city may have to pay for studies.
"We'll definitely make that money back in taxes and growth on prospective
new businesses coming to Greensboro," he said. "We're willing to do what it
takes to get the job done and see this become a reality."
Tuscaloosa Parking and Transit Authority director Norman Schenck said he
believes that if Amtrak leaves, its absence would be temporary.
"The concept is to have several modes of transportation to one area," he
said. "Because Amtrak goes away now, it doesn't mean it will be gone
forever."
The city would pay $400,000, or 20 percent, of the total cost of the
facility to match $1.9 million federal allocation.
The city also wants to acquire other property surrounding the train station
along Greensboro, Queen City Avenue and Hargrove Road and make it available
for retail development and transportation-related businesses. Some of the
area would be set aside for a small park and green space.
Taylor said new businesses have already come to the are because of the
upcoming revitalization project. Older businesses have done some remodeling,
he said.
"I hope the business people will be patient and finish what they already
started doing," he said.
"That was once a lively business part of Tuscaloosa; we want to restore it
back to those times that we knew."

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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