This is the updated timeline for the High Speed Rail Train Station and a few tidbits from the council presentation on Tuesday. It was presented to the council prior to their council meeting in about 16 minutes. They started late because many were still in the CCOC (Common Council Organizational Committee) meeting listening to Thuy be offended they didn’t get to her item. And then they had to cut it short to let city channel to get ready for their next meeting, so the scheduled update they had asked for ended up being quite meaningless.
About the only other things of interest from the few minutes they spent on it are as follows:
– They are working on the corridor management plan but it will be highly influenced by the stakeholder group which they are putting together now, that group will meet 4 to 6 times.
– For more updates sign up at wisrail.gov
– Yes they are working to make this a multi-modal station, they encourage people to come to the next meeting where they will have conceptual drawing and your input will be very important at that point.
– The 3 options they showed for the platform are just a start, there will probably be other options based on the input received. The first alternatives were driven by needs for freight. They will not pick one at the next meeting.
– This will have to go through plan commission and the committee process and council for approval, Eagon wanted it to go to the Downtown Coordinating committee and Pedestrian Bike Motor Vehicle Commission – Janet from the Mayor’s office says it will be a tight timeline and she’s not sure.
– One of mayor’s top priorities is to make sure the platform will work with commuter rail.
– You might see them out there working on the corridor, they are surveying the area. Consultant has been hired.
– There is an issue around Starkweather Creek and they are working on WisDoT and the bike path that is supposed to start at Goodman and go to the east side.
– They are working on moving the tracks by Central Park.
– Staff is working with them on the intersections in the corridor on safety issues.
– They are working on how to plan the parking and they are challenged because Marcus still has the right of first refusal so they are working on a back up plan for parking.
– They have a pre-application for a TIGER (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery) grant to help with development around the station.
Here’s the timeline they reviewed:
June 2010 Workshops in Madison:
o June 22—Memorial High School
o June 24—Monona Terrace or DOA Building (101 East Wilson) Decision by July 1 on the Monona Terrace train station location 101 East Wilson Street, Department of Administration building).
July 2010 Environmental Assessment begins July 1 Public Information Meeting (PIM) 1—July 29, 2010; proposed purpose and need statement and alternative conceptual designs for the train platforms.
August 2010 PIM 2 — (late August) proposed site layouts will be presented depicting the station boundary, parking, train platforms refinements, canopy, access for vehicles to the station using the local street network, stormwater management, lighting, walkways and a conceptual cost estimate for the station.
October 2010 PIM 3— refined site layout alternatives will be presented for further public comment. These comments will be used to refine the site layout alternatives, leading to a preferred alternative for the Monona Terrace train station.
February 2011 The preferred alternative will be included in the Environmental Assessment which is scheduled to be published in early February 2011. Public Hearing for Environmental Assessment – (late February) public testimony will taken by a court reporter at the hearing. Those comments received will be addressed and published in the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
April 2011 Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) to be released. This is the final decision document for the site layout of the Monona Terrace Station.
Final design of the station will occur after the FONSI, and the station is scheduled to be built before the start of High-Speed Rail train service between Madison and Milwaukee, expected to begin in 2013.
I see our enlightened leaders have identified
“an issue around Starkweather Creek and they are working on WisDoT and the bike path.”
BUT I see NO mention of how the HSR line crossing at the Yahara River & associated bike path will be handled.
If there’s any issue along the way — that’d be a major one.
Residents have invested enormous amounts of time and energy to persuade The City that the Yahara Corridor was worth restoring as greenspace, and that a cross-isthmus bike path was a necessity, since The City couldn’t be bothered to make crossing East Wash reasonably doable.
Now, all that work could be for nothing, as long as Mayor Dave and Gov Doyle continue the high-handed, no-public input decision-making process they’ve used so far.
A major, unique amenity — gone.
Unless, that is, the current at-grade rail bridge is replaced by one that gives clearance to bikes, peds —and respects the greenspace as an valuable and irreplaceable piece of green infrastructure.
If HSR is about sustainable transportation, then it has to be integrated with the sustainable green infrastructure already in place.
Otherwise, it’s a failure.