Madison location is ‘correct choice’ for new Wisconsin Amtrak station

In an announcement that Madison officials hailed as a boon for downtown, Gov. Jim Doyle said May 6 that the "obvious, correct choice" for an Amtrak station is near Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., the Wisconsin State Journal reports

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
pledged to expand by 400 spaces a planned parking ramp reconstruction in the
next two years to accommodate what he said should be called "Gov. Jim
Doyle/Monona Terrace Station."

The governor, Cieslewicz
said, "made absolutely the right decision, and in some ways a courageous
decision, and one that is going to benefit the city of Madison for generations
to come.

Both leaders emphasized
that a lot of work still needs to be done, including selecting the exact
location of the station. Department of Transportation Executive Assistant Chris
Klein confirmed the state is looking at three state-owned buildings along
Wilson Street where the station would be housed and vertical access to a
platform would need to be built.

The $810-million federal
stimulus grant to develop intercity rail between Madison and Milwaukee has $24
million earmarked for station development. Part of that would be used for the
Madison station, Doyle said, but "the station is not going to be a Taj Mahal."

Cieslewicz said that if the
city wants to make the station "a more significant entrance to the city, then
obviously the city is going to have to think about stepping up and paying for
that."

City Council President Mark
Clear said Madison also will have to consider making the station functional for
other modes of transportation, including Metro bus service, intercity bus,
taxis, bicycles and eventually commuter rail.

"If the feds are going to
give us a platform and a Porta Potti, then we’re going to have to step up and
make sure it’s truly functional for all the different modes of transportation
we need," Clear said.

The announcement ended
months of speculation by many, even those in leadership positions like Clear,
on a closely guarded state secret. State officials said for the first time two
weeks ago that four sites were being considered for a Madison station: Monona
Terrace, the Kohl Center, the Dane County Regional Airport and a site at First
Street and East Washington Avenue known as Yahara Station.

In reviewing the sites,
Doyle said, the state Department of Transportation considered "a large number
of criteria" including rail operations, ridership, access to other forms of
transportation, economic development potential, parking, traffic impact, environmental
issues, location, size and shape, and costs. The state estimated Monona Terrace
would attract 537,000 riders annually, or 60,000 more than at the airport, with
an equivalent travel time.

Doyle said he heard from
many people along the line, including in Milwaukee and Chicago, who said they
would be more likely to take the train if it came downtown. "I think this decision
in the end, when you added it all up, became pretty clear," he said.

In the state’s final
analysis, the Kohl Center and Yahara Station were discarded because they weren’t
considered in a final environmental assessment that received federal approval
in 2004. Evaluating those sites would have pushed the start-up date beyond
2013, Klein said. The analysis also found that rail infrastructure costs would
be $13 million higher at the airport than at Monona Terrace.

Doyle said he originally
signaled support for the airport because he thought there would be more parking
there, but it turned out the parking is needed for long-term expansion of the
airport.

Klein said the decision to
go downtown does not mean the state has lost confidence in receiving federal
funding to extend the line to Minneapolis. Rather, the state may consider a
second Madison station at the airport when it extends the line. The state was
awarded $1 million by the Federal Railroad Administration to study that
extension.

Leaders emphasized the
economic development potential of a Monona Terrace station. Imagine, said Ald.
Mike Verveer, visitors getting off the train beneath a refurbished building at
1 W. Wilson St. and having a porter carrying their bags up to their hotel room,
then walking a block to buy locally grown produce at a public market where the
Government East parking ramp once stood.

"The economic development
potential is unlimited," Verveer said.

The redevelopment of the
Government East parking ramp, which currently has 500 spaces, was already
scheduled for 2011 and 2012 with 800 underground parking spaces at a cost of
$24.5 million. Cieslewicz said the city could add another underground level and
expand capacity to 1,200 spaces to accommodate the 400 to 600 spaces needed for
the train station.

Downtown advocate Ledell
Zellers, who works in one of the buildings being considered for the station,
welcomed a Downtown station but said there are several issues that need to be
addressed, including noise, safety and the impact on traffic at the already
congested nearby intersection of Wilson, Williamson and Blair streets and John
Nolen Drive.

"There are some issues about
noise, in terms of going through neighborhoods. That’s a serious question,"
Zellers said. "There would have to be more quiet zones developed in order to
make it livable around the train route."