Dearborn Train Station Construction to Move Forward
City council approves several resolutions Monday night relating to the building of Deaborn's new train station.
Photos
Several resolutions were passed at Monday night's Dearborn City Council meeting moving things forward with Dearborn's Intermodal Passenger Rail Facility.
Effective at the meeting, Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly is authorized to finalize and execute an agreement between the Michigan Department of Transportation and the city–as well as the city and Amtrak–for the final design and construction of the station.
Also relating to the train station, two-year contracts were awarded for matters relating to construction of the facility. The first, for $1,726,300, was awarded to Tooles-Clark for construction management of risk services. The second, for $1,929,312, was awarded to Neumann Smith for architectural and engineering services.
The $28.2-million project is funded by a grant from the Federal Rail
Administration Act.
The project, which will create a new train station off of Michigan Avenue just west of the Southfield Freeway, is anticipated to open doors for the city of Dearborn, city officials have said. The station would include commuter trains to Ann Arbor, as well as walkways to Dearborn hot spots–including west downtown, The Henry Ford and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
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Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
20900 Oakwood Blvd, Dearborn, MI -
University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Rd, Dearborn, MI
Dearborn Taxpayer
6:07 pm on Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sounds like a real "budget crisis" in Dearborn... Sure, the feds fund (err borrow) the actual construction costs, but who pays for the maintenance, upkeep, insurance, police/fire support, and other operating costs for this new facility? It's Dearborn taxpayers! How can we trust the Mayor and Council's scare tactics that the city needs more money from taxpayers for basic services like police, fire, and libraries when they approve spending money like this..?
Frank Lee
7:45 pm on Tuesday, July 19, 2011
This mayor is a complete disgrace. He can beg for federal funds to build a train station no one asked for, use county funds to build more murder ball courts and then let our pools parks and libraries rot. Congratulation mayor O'Reilly you have finally destroyed mayor hub bard's legacy
larrythebiker
11:46 pm on Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Why don't we rip up the sewers that the federal government helped finance? Heck, why don't we just plow under the streets and pull up the sidewalks. We ain't need any of those government infrastructures or services which are paid for through, gasp, tax dollars. Our caves do just fine.
The current Dearborn Amtrak Station is one of busiest on The Wolverine route next to Ann Arbor and perhaps Kalamazoo. Huh. People use government services?
Concerned Citizen
1:18 pm on Saturday, July 23, 2011
This is a great development. It might make our city an even more desirable place to live. Please make sure there is enough free parking like we have at the current station. Having walkways to west downtown, The Henry Ford, and UM-D sounds promising.
A vibrant intermodal train station, along with student housing, might bring more business, jobs, and money to Dearborn so we can then spend more on enriching and highlighting our culture and history. City officials did the right thing in applying for this grant.
Keep in mind it's not either/or. It's not libraries and pools or a new train station. I'm angry about the closure of Snow Branch and the two neighborhood pools as well as the cuts to the Dearborn Historical Museum. I hope officials don't close any more libraries or pools and actually start curbing some of the real cost drivers. The fact is the new first-class station will be paid for with federal funds and maintained by Amtrak. Sure, it might be a flop, but it might be a HUGE success. The potential benefits far outweigh the potential costs, so it’s worth the risk--though we will never know if we never try. One thing’s for sure: an opportunity like this won't come around again. Let's not miss out on it, and if we do it let’s do it right.
Dearborn Taxpayer
9:40 am on Sunday, July 24, 2011
Concerned Citizen - I appreciate your perspective and optimism. But keep in mind the "feds" are broke and essentially insolvent (they have to borrow 40 cents of every dollar they spend to fund projects like this). Amtrak is hugely inefficient and requires billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to provide the service they provide to the few customers who use it. I also remember this same optimism a few years back that if Dearborn built the parking decks and development at the "Jacobson's site," we'd get "more business, jobs and money" to Dearborn. Well, we know exactly how that has turned out. Might this not be another expensive government boondoggle..?