Birmingham-Troy transit center nets another $250K in stimulus funds

Thursday, January 28, 2010 | Source: metromode

Money is starting to pile up for the Birmingham-Troy transit center now that backers for it have netted another $250,000 in federal stimulus dollars.

That brings the total raised to a little more than $1.5 million for the $7 million project that will serve as the transit hub on the border between the two cities for rail, bus, auto, bike and pedestrian transportation systems. And much more funding is potentially on the way.

Organizers behind the project are trying to dip into two large pots of government money from the federal stimulus program. That includes the TIGER program, which represents $1.5 billion in discretionary spending for mass transit and the high-speed rail funds for Michigan. Competition for both funds is fierce and is at the discretion of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, but local supporters are optimistic that either one of these could fit the rest of the transit center's bill.

"There is a huge national competition for these funds but we feel we have a credible application for both programs," says Dan Beattie, director of federal affairs for Clark Hill, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm representing Troy and Birmingham in the project.

The two cities plan to create the transit center on the Birmingham side of the border between the cities. About $4 million would be set aside for the center, while the rest would be used to build a pedestrian tunnel underneath the tracks.

The center will facilitate traffic from pedestrians, bicyclists, automobiles, buses, and the planned northern extension of the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line. There has also been talk of creating an east-west streetcar line to connect the station to Birmingham's downtown and Troy's Somerset Collection mall.

The proposed site is in Birmingham's emerging Rail District. The cities plan to create a transit oriented development district around the station that would roughly be bordered by Crooks, Adams, and Maple Roads and Lincoln Street.

Source: Dan Beattie, director of federal affairs for Clark Hill
Writer: Jon Zemke