(rshsdepot) Elyria, OH

[Jim Dent <jdent1_@_optonline.net>]

11/04/2005
Work on transportation hub could start soon
MATT SUMAN , Morning Journal Writer

ELYRIA -- It may only be a matter of weeks before the first phase begins 
to turn the old New York Central passenger railroad station on Broad 
Street into a more than $7 million transportation hub, county officials 
said yesterday.
The proposed transportation center site is between East Avenue and Cedar 
Street next to the Norfolk Southern railroad. Officials said the center 
could be home to Lorain County Transit buses, Greyhound buses, a rental 
car area and possibly Amtrak trains.

Though the county still needs to put a funding plan in place for the 
entire project, County Administrator Jim Cordes said he hopes 
construction of the center will be complete in ''a couple years.''

The first phase of the project could begin in 45 days, according to 
Karen Davis, special projects manager for the county. It will go out for 
bid after the Ohio Department of Transportation approves the plans, 
which Davis said she hopes to send out next week.

Cordes said he's talking with car rental companies to bring rental car 
access to the transportation center. The county is also trying to get 
Greyhound and Amtrak access to the center.

''We'll probably have Greyhound busing going out of there,'' Cordes said.

Amtrak may be more of a stretch because the company does not have money 
to contribute to a $2.5 million possible final phase of the project, 
according to Cordes.

Davis said the county has more than $5 million of funding lined up for 
the center.

She said U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, secured a total of $3.6 
million in federal funds over the past three years toward the project. 
U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, obtained about $1 million for the center, 
according to Davis.

The Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency allocated $600,000 for the 
project.

Cordes said the county is expecting to receive $2.6 million of the total 
that Brown helped secure for the project between fiscal years 2006 and 
2009. County officials are trying to come up with a strategy to make the 
money available sooner.

''We have to come up with a financing strategy,'' he said. ''We could 
advance or borrow the money.''

Cordes said he plans to get a letter of non-prejudice from the Federal 
Transportation Authority that would help secure money that is expected 
to come in a few years. The county would have to front the money and get 
reimbursed with the grants.

''If that wasn't the case, the construction would probably take a few 
more years,'' Cordes said. ''It's going to be a good year for that 
project next year. I'm hoping next fall we'll see a huge amount of 
progress out there.''

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15514455&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1239
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org