By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
A passenger train between Ann Arbor and Traverse City is now one step closer to reality, a press release from the project’s development group said last month.
In the next few years passengers from southeast Michigan, or Northwest Michigan, could be making regular stops between the two areas and building an improved economy as well as giving the state’s freeway travelers a little relief from the congested Michigan roads.
Jim Bruckbauer, the Transportation Director for the Groundwork Center for resilient Communities said, “A plan to activate a railroad corridor that runs from Southeast Michigan to Traverse City and Petoskey has received new funding to advance the planning stages.”
The project has been in the planning stages for several years.
An August 15 email to City Manager Jeremy Howard from Bruckbauer said state and federal dollars will fund the next step in the process to develop the rail passenger corridor that will impact many communities along its path including Clare.
He said Michigan lawmakers included $1 million to advance the Northern Michigan passenger rail Phase II planning study in the State’s 2023 Labor and Economic Opportunity budget.
Then, last week, an A4 article (All about Ann Arbor by WDIV) said, “U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced that project partners will be awarded the remaining $1.3 million through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program to advance the northern Michigan passenger rail Phase II planning study. RAISE is a competitive grant program that supports transportation projects all over the United States.”
The email said “The RAISE grant was awarded to the Cadillac/Wexford Transit Authority, which will work in partnership with the nonprofit Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and other community groups and transportation agencies to complete the planning study.”
Bruckbauer, in his email to Howard gave some highlights since the initial feasibility study was completed in 2018 saying state lawmakers in 2019 and 2020 “included $2.5 million in Michigan’s Transportation budget to improve tracks in Traverse City for both freight and future passenger service.”
Earlier this year, he reported, “MDOT was awarded a $21 million federal rail grant to improve tracks along the Ann Arbor to Traverse City corridor just north of Ann Arbor. In July State Lawmakers included the $1 million to kick off the federally required planning process and are now working to “bring up to $150 million in additional funding for track repairs.”
“This is a major milestone in the effort to bring passenger rail service to northern Michigan and give families and workers a safe and environmentally friendly way to travel throughout state while reducing cars on our highways,” Bruckbauer said.
“We see the planning period as a great opportunity for residents and travelers along the line to shape the future train service. We will be out asking people what they want to see, conducting surveys, and holding events throughout the process,” he added. Towns along the line include Petoskey, Kalkaska, Traverse City, Kingsley, Cadillac, Clare, Mt. Pleasant, Alma, Owosso, Durand, Howell, Ann Arbor, and a potential alternative route to Detroit.
The study team will identify and prioritize improvements needed along the line to maximize freight and passenger opportunities to northern Michigan; evaluate the changes in supply chains so that Michigan businesses can have more efficient and affordable shipping connections to the rest of the world; and develop the business plan for passenger service, which includes updating the project’s market forecasts and laying out the stations, transit connections, and schedule of service.
A 2015 release said that “tracks are in relatively good shape,” and that “90 percent of the route is ready for passenger service with 65 percent of the tracks rated for trains to travel up to 59 mph.”
That release also said that “a 2009 Grand Valley State University study found that Michigan cities with once-a-day train service boosted their downtown economies by $7 to $45 million each year.”
In 2018, a study from the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities reported that trains running between Ann Arbor and Traverse City (or “A2TC”) would generate $100 million annually by 2040, with an expected 1.5 million riders a year. It would require an estimated $40 million in capital costs for 60 mph service (a five-hour trip). Trains reaching speeds of 110 mph would require track upgrades closer to $1 billion and would shave 1 1/2 hours off travel times to 3 1/2 hours.
The northern Michigan passenger rail Phase II planning study team will be made up of local, state, and national transportation experts and agencies. The study is expected to be completed over the next 18 months.
In 2018, a study from the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities reported that trains running between Ann Arbor and Traverse City (or “A2TC”) would generate $100 million annually by 2040, with an expected 1.5 million riders a year. It would require an estimated $40 million in capital costs for 60 mph service (a five-hour trip). Trains reaching speeds of 110 mph would require track upgrades closer to $1 billion and would shave 1 1/2 hours off travel times to 3 1/2 hours.
The MLUI (Michigan Land Use Institute) has a ten-year timeline to make this happen, the 2015 article by Bruckbauer said.