When the Haute-Picardie was built between Paris and Lille in France, no one could complain that it didn't have plentiful enough parking. In the middle of a beetroot field, 40 kilometers from the community it was meant to serve, it was nothing if not accommodating to cars, and planners hoped economic activity would naturally sprout up around the station. It did not. It instead become reason rail stations with poor linkages to public transit and economic activity are called "
beet stations." Not exactly an honor.
Access to parking is, of course, one of the many issues Ann Arbor's current Amtrak station presents. Anyone who has lugged a suitcase from the current longterm parking area across the Broadway St. bridge to the station would likely agree. Linking to public transit from the tight constraints of Depot St. is no easy task either. But of the three locations now under review to become the site of a new Amtrak station, the original is still closest to the economic activity of downtown - and that's no small consideration. According to Deputy Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, Kevin Brubaker, it's probably the most important factor in determining where to locate a train station - and far more important than parking.
"All of the activity of these people getting on and off trains, done right, creates a node of economic activity," says Brubaker, citing restaurants, dry cleaners, florists and other retail as businesses that can serve train travelers. "You want to make sure the train station is in a place where you can capture that benefit."
How does a train station create and capture economic activity? Take the Amtrak station in Normal, IL, for example. Once a small, overwhelmed station - not unlike Ann Arbor's - that faced the rear of the city's downtown, the new station dedicated in 2012 has become a center of economic activity. Not only does the 68,000-sq ft station include a restaurant, retail and municipal offices, but the rear facades of the neighboring downtown buildings transformed into front facades, essentially turning downtown around to face the station. In 2013,
the station brought in more than $5.6 million in revenue.
Ann Arbor is already the busiest Amtrak station in Michigan. With service improvements aiming to reduce the travel time to Chicago by two hours as well as create commuter opportunities for daily trips in and out of the city, the number of riders coming through the station is only expected to rise - as are the economic potential of all of those new visitors, workers, diners and shoppers coming into town.
"It would be hard to overstate how significant this moment is in Ann Arbor's history," says Kirk Westphal, former chair of the planning commission and uncontested Democratic nominee for Ward 2 city councilmember. "Looking at the effect that improved rail service has had on other cities, I would be hard pressed to find any reason not to leverage this opportunity. The feds don't come around with buckets of money to update rail facilities but once in a generation."
The search for the best new location for the Amtrak station began earlier this year. Through the help of a consultant, citizen working group and leadership advisory group, eight potential sites have been whittled down to three: the original site on Depot St., Fuller Rd. across the street from Fuller Park Pool, and N. Main near Lake Shore Dr.
In terms of the economic potential of each site, Casey's Tavern and the Gandy Dancer at the original site are the entirety of the existing consumer-facing businesses on all three and University of Michigan Hospital next to the Fuller Rd. spot holds the biggest potential to benefit commuters. But just like in Normal, it's not just what's in these locations today that should be considered, Brubaker says, but what each site could become.
"You need to look at station development hand in hand with local economic development policy," he says. "If you're going to put up a station, let's make sure that we've up-zoned the area around it and that we are using limited tax benefits in that particular area."
That's no easy task in a community where talk of up-zoning often leads to heated political fights. While Brubaker lists economic development potential as the number one consideration, he says connection to other modes of transportation - public transit, bike paths, taxis, etc., is another crucial factor to consider.
"The important thing to remember that a station isn't just a place where people get on and off trains," he says. "It is also a place of inter-model connection. People are getting off trains to get on buses or to get on commuter rail or to get in a taxi."
The awkward parking lot and narrow Depot St. has proven to be a public transit challenge for the current location, and though the N. Main St. location is adjacent to the B2B Trail, making it convenient for cyclists, there are currently no AAATA stops nearby and isn't a corridor that is easy to pop on and off of, as vehicles buzz to and from M-14 all day. As a potential transit hub, Fuller Rd., with access to bus, bike and car travel, seems to have a leg up.
Locally, environmental concerns are an inescapable consideration as well. As the tracks follow the river and so do parkland and wetlands, any new station will come with an environmental trade-off. However, Westphal notes, while minimizing this impact is important, so is considering the environmental benefit of a better functioning station.
"Travel by rail has an incredible ability to remove cars from the road," he says. "I hope the pros and cons this mode of transportation are considered in a larger context."
It's a big decision, and a tough one. Not a single location presents a perfect…or even a particularly strong scenario, but given the fact that the station must be located near, you know, the existing tracks, it will be a matter of determining which site can be made into the best option. And it's not a big, tough decision that will impact visitors. With the potential economic impact of the new Amtrak station, it should matter to every resident.
"Based on past history, rail is a smart longterm investment that pays off," Westphal says. "Our city's ability to deliver services is based largely on property tax revenue, and there is demonstrable increase in the amount of activity around good rail service, and this translates to better services and infrastructure for all of us."
Which location will provide the best opportunity for economic activity? Which will best connect riders to the multi-model transit opportunities they need to reach their jobs, football games, hotels, downtown other destinations? Thanks to a tour being hosted by the City of Ann Arbor, you can decide for yourself. A bus tour on Monday, Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. will take participants to all three sites, leaving from Blake Transit Center. RSVPs are due today, so contact Eli Cooper at ecooper@a2gov.org or 734.794.6430 x43710 to get in on the trip - and the big decision.
All photos by Doug Coombe