The Madison Passenger Train Station Study held a town hall Tuesday to discuss public corridors and initial station sites. Speakers from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Amtrak and infrastructure design firm HNTB spoke at the assembly. Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also spoke at the assembly.
“We’re doing everything we can at the point in the city to repair passenger rail service to Madison,” Rhodes-Conway said.
While the study is still in its early stages, the exercise station would improve the economy by connecting Madison to other Midwestern cities, allowing for more public transportation and providing a climate-friendly option for long-term transportation needs, according to Rhodes-Conway.
This rail station would provide direct service to Chicago, incorporate Madison on a regional transportation system and bring people from across the Midwest to Madison, Director of Network Development at Amtrak Arun Rao said.
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Before the public meeting, the study team for the passenger rail station evaluated potential corridors for a station site, according to the study. A rail corridor is the area that contains the rails, junctions, crossings and other related items, according to Law Insider. These corridors included the Downtown Corridor, First Street Corridor, Oscar Meyer Corridor, Airport Corridor and East Side Corridor.
Three rooms (Downtown, First Street, and Oscar Meyer) were researched based on the following criteria: rail operations, multimodal connectivity, land-use development, passenger prospects, and equitable access.
After advancing 3 corridor sites to the investigation phase, transportation planner and assignment manager Liz Callin discussed criteria for comparing the station site. Based on those criteria, the review team decided on 8 possible station sites. The sites are Monona Terrace, Blair Street, Livingston Street, Street, First Street, Johnson Street, Commercial Avenue and Aberg Avenue.
These sites were selected based on accessibility and proximity to people, jobs, and destinations. In addition, it is vital that the study team chooses potential sites with access to multimodal connectivity, adding car, walking, and bus transportation.
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“We want to make sure that it is accessible for those drop offs and pick ups by car, but we also want to think about those multimodal access points and making it really convenient, comfortable and safe for people walking, biking and taking transit,” Callin said.
Another aspect that members wished to examine was land ownership, as some of the sites they were looking for were privately owned. Therefore, this would require the acquisition of the assets or an agreement with the current owner. Sites that would require this progression come with Blair Street, Livingston Street, Johnson Street, Commercial Avenue and Aberg Avenue, according to the draft proposal.
The Passenger Rail Station Identification Study has published a schedule that includes existing and future plans for the study. Currently, the team is comparing the locations of the fast stations in the corridors. Once chosen, the studio will expand on the proposed plan with a price estimate and next steps.
A virtual town hall and initial screening sites will be held on Feb. 6 to discuss hallway assessment sites and initial screening sites. The team conducting the study encourages the public to email comments and recommendations to [email protected], according to the City of Madison’s website.
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