022212_NEWS_Amtrak_MRM

A westbound Amtrak train to Chicago pulls into the Ann Arbor station.

(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News file photo)



Ypsilanti officials have released more information about the scope, cost and location of a proposed Depot Town Amtrak train stop.

A platform that will serve as the new stop will likely be built on the east side of the tracks across from the Ypsilanti Freighthouse and adjacent to the Maple Street parking lot.

Beth Ernat, the city's economic development director, said Amtrak requires platforms to be on the tracks' east side.

The city doesn't want to spend more than $3 million on the platform, Ernat said, and will pay for up to $2 million of it from its general fund savings. The rest will be covered with grant funding. The $3 million limit includes the platform itself and not the cost of making supporting improvements to nearby parking and infrastructure.

The Ypsilanti stop would be on Amtrak's Wolverine line, which runs from Chicago to Pontiac with southeast Michigan stops in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Detroit, Birmingham and Royal Oak. Ernat said the new stop is expected to boost the number of riders using the line by 9,000 annually, and up to three inbound and outbound trains would stop daily in Ypsilanti. Amtrak recorded around 468,000 passengers in Michigan in 2014.

For years residents and the city have discussed the possibility of a train stopping in Depot Town, so the news that plans are moving forward is generating excitement. Officials expect the stop to provide an economic boost to Depot Town, which is already a strong and stable area.

"Initially it's drawing attention - even more attention - to the community and Depot Town, and in the long term we expect there to be the significant developments that happen in places with train stations," Ernat said. "That area is active now, so the more activity, the better. I don't think we can quantify or expect what will happen, but what we know it won't do is hurt the region in any way."

The platform will likely stretch between 400 and 500 feet, Ernat said, though designers haven't started drawing up plans.

The city is beginning the design process immediately, and is aiming to have planning commission and city council-approved plans ready in the next nine to 12 months.

Once the city approves the plans, they will be sent to the Michigan Department Of Transportation, the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak and Norfolk Southern for approval.

That process could take an additional 12 to 18 months, which means the very earliest trains will stop in Ypsilanti is December 2017.

However, an MDOT spokesperson stressed to The Ann Arbor News that it hasn't approved anything. Previously, MDOT and Amtrak wouldn't consider a train stop in Depot Town. The agency has only changed its position on whether it will consider the idea. MDOT must OK plans once they exist.

"Once the platform is approved for passenger rail operations and the railroad crossing closures are complete, MDOT will instruct Amtrak to add a station stop in the city," Al Johnson, manager of railroad operations for MDOT, wrote in a Dec. 9 letter to City Manager Ralph Lange.

Ernat said those wishing to cross the tracks from the platform will have to do so at the Cross Street crossing just south of the stop. But the city may add a crossing at some point after the platform is built.

Ernat said a commuter train may also someday stop in the city and it's not known how that would impact a crossing's design.

"Also, we want to do a platform quicker than it would take to design a crossing," Ernat added.

Supporting plans call for upgrades to the Frog Island parking lot. As part of that project, the recycling center will be moved, and the lot will be repaved, restriped and its circulation improved.

Amtrak is also asking the city to close crossings on Park and Grove Streets. Ernat said the tracks already serve as a barrier between the residential and light industrial areas, and the city is planning to create four cul-de-sacs. The planning commission will take up that issue at an upcoming meeting, and the crossings are expected to be closed in July.

The Ypsilanti City Council will vote at its Tuesday meeting on resolutions to support the project and to hire OHM to design the platform.