Ann Arbor moves forward Fuller Road Transit Station plans

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The Fuller Road Transit Station is well on its way to becoming a reality, wrapping up the public input meetings next week and going through the city approval process this summer.

"In the coming weeks there will be a formal submission to the city planning commission," says Eli Cooper, transportation manager for the city of Ann Arbor.

But first local leaders (a combination of city and University of Michigan officials) must hold the last public meeting at 7 p.m. May 6 in the City Hall at the corner of Huron and Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor. After that, look for those officials to submit designs to the city Planning Commission in May and then go before City Council by late summer or early fall. Full approval could be in hand by this fall, bringing the process full circle.

"We have been engaging with the community at large since last summer/early fall," Cooper says.

So far the city and university have spend $500,000 toward creating designs for a new railroad-centric mass transit center on Fuller Road near University of Michigan Hospital. The new station would replace the Amtrak station on Depot Street and serve as the Ann Arbor stop for Amtrak, Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line, the proposed Chicago-Detroit high-speed rail line and bus rapid transit/streetcar line to downtown.

It would also accommodate Ann Arbor Transportation Authority buses, bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists. The Border-to-Border Trail would also connect to the station, which is being quarterbacked by Ann Arbor-based JJR.

The Fuller Road transit station would replace surface parking lots at the intersection of Fuller and Maiden Lane with things like the transit station and a parking garage. This project is part of the Ann Arbor Connector Feasibility Study - a study that would call for creating a crescent moon-shaped line for either streetcars or bus rapid transit system or enhance bus service. The plans from that transit line are expected to be released in June.

"That is progressing nicely," Cooper says.

Source: Eli Cooper, transportation manager for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke