Federal and state officials joined representatives of the Town of Normal and Amtrak to ceremonially break ground for a Multimodal Transportation Center that will serve as a station for Amtrak rail and motor coach passengers, local transit buses and will include a multi-level parking structure.

In February 2010, Normal received a $22-million Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With this grant in place, the estimated $47-million multimodal center project was completely funded. Monies were also obtained from Federal Transit Administration grants, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants, and bonds issued by Normal. A rendering of the station is to the right

"The Town is very proud of the fact that this project is the very first to begin actual construction, of all of the projects nationally that received U.S. Department of Transportation funding through the TIGER Program," said Mayor Chris Koos. The building will be on a traffic circle that is the new focal point of Uptown Normal.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff and Cong. Debbie Halvorson, along with Mayor Koos and Amtrak Board Chairman Tom Carper, participated in the ceremony.

This 68,000 square foot facility with a train platform compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act will replace the Amtrak station in Normal, directly opposite of this project along the Union Pacific. Built in 1990 on the Town Hall parking lot, the small station is overwhelmed by increasing Amtrak ridership. With more than 192,000 passengers last year - and growing - the station in Normal also serves neighboring Bloomington and is the busiest in Downstate Illinois.

The new transportation center will also feature retail and municipal office space, a community room and a 280-car parking garage. The Town anticipates the building will achieve a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.

More than a half-million Amtrak passengers have ridden the five daily Lincoln Service/Texas Eagle trains this fiscal year (530,648, Oct. 2009-July 2010) on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor, an increase of 11 percent. The Illinois Department of Transportation was awarded $1.2 billion in ARRA funds for high-speed trains on this corridor and was one of only three states to receive an award of more than $1 billion. When complete in 2012, this facility will be opened in advance of 110 mph Amtrak service on the route, with trains making trips to Chicago in about two hours and to St. Louis in less than two-and-half-hours.