(rshsdepot) Jackson, MI

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From the Jackson Citizen Patriot
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Downtown train station seen as transportation hub

Posted by Fredricka Paul | Jackson Citizen Patriot November 17, 2008  11:28AM

Jackson's downtown Amtrak train station could be turned into a hub for  
various modes of transportation.
 
With a renovation project soon to get under way at the station, officials  
are looking ahead to the next phase of an improvement project.
 
The second phase involves turning the station into an intermodal rail-bus  
transportation hub. It would involve:
 
• Moving the Jackson Transportation Authority bus transfer center from  
Cortland Street to the Amtrak station.
 
• Including space for the Michigan Flyer Service, which provides bus  
transportation to Detroit Metro Airport. 
 
• Including space for local taxi services.
 
It was unclear how much the project would cost.

City Manager William Ross on Tuesday will ask the Jackson City Council  for 
permission to send a letter to the Michigan Department of Transportation  
requesting $50,000 for a study on train station use.
 
He said the study would create a program that would allow organizations  
involved to try to obtain federal funding.
 
"This provides a convenient location for passengers to move from one  
transportation mode to another," Ross said. "Additionally, other communities are  
seeing redevelopment in neighborhoods surrounding transportation, with new  
businesses and housing going up."
 
There also have been talks of Jackson becoming connected to a commuter rail  
planned for Detroit to Ann Arbor and to a high-speed rail that is already in  
place between Kalamazoo and Porter, Ind., Ross said.
 
"We think it is a great idea," Steve Duke, principal planner for Jackson  
County's Region 2 Planning Commission, said of the transportation hub. "I think  
it is a good first step. That way we would be ready for (the commuter rail). 
...  We would be ready with an updated station."
 
The train depot got a $300,000 Department of Transportation grant to pay  for 
repairs to the station. The money will be used to pay for roof, brick and  
other repairs at the depot and nearby Express Building. It was unclear when the  
work would begin, but Duke said it would be  soon.

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