A 12-year vision of expanded Michigan passenger rail options moved closer to reality on April 10 at a high-profile construction launch ceremony for the City of Dearborn’s new Intermodal Passenger Rail Station.

Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. welcomed 80 key leaders, including U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Congressman John Dingell, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle, and Amtrak Chairman of the Board Tom Carper, as well as transportation and industry officials.

The ceremony was hosted by Patricia E. Mooradian, President of The Henry Ford, where the event took place.

The ceremony celebrated the collaborative milestone marking the beginning of the construction of this $28.2 million federally-funded station, to be built at 20201 W. Michigan Avenue, west of the Southfield Freeway at the entrance to Dearborn’s west downtown.

The ceremony was held at Greenfield Village within The Henry Ford because the station will be built adjacent to this national Historic Landmark site and will provide improved access to the visitor attraction for passengers arriving by train.

At the April 10 launch, invited guests gathered at the historic Smiths Creek Depot inside Greenfield Village to hear details about the dramatic progress expected, and to receive thanks for their support.

A view of the new train station from Michigan Avenue.

The vision for an Intermodal Station

The pedestrian-friendly Dearborn Intermodal Passenger Rail Station will serve as a rail gateway to Dearborn and southeast Michigan.

The important transportation link will allow thousands of passengers per year to make connections to Amtrak’s Wolverine service that extends from Pontiac to Chicago; as well as to SMART, DDOT, Greyhound and charter buses; corporate and hotel shuttles; taxis and personal vehicles.

The station is positioned to support the eventual operation of the Detroit to Chicago High Speed Rail Corridor, which already has seen progress in western Michigan.

It will also serve the proposed Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line. Eventually, the commuter rail line will allow easy bus connection to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The station’s proximity to the Rouge River Gateway Trail on the north side of Michigan Avenue in Dearborn should prove popular to pedestrians and bicyclists and provide easy access to the campuses of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College.

MDOT Director Kirk Steudle, Patricia Mooradian of The Henry Ford, Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Congressman John Dingell, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, and Amtrak Chairman Tom Carper unveil a drawing of the new Dearborn Intermodal Passenger Rail Station.

Construction timeline

Preliminary work began in March with utility alterations on the construction site and completion is expected by fall 2013.

As the construction progresses, people traveling down Michigan Avenue will see the intermodal station evolve from a bare footprint to a beautiful two-story brick and glass structure surrounded by ponds and appealing landscaping.

The 16,000-square-foot intermodal station will offer amenities like free WI-FI and bicycle racks.

Also incorporated inside will be exhibits by the City of Dearborn, Ford Motor Co., The Henry Ford, Pure Michigan and others.

The site at 20201 Michigan Avenue had been previously used for the storage of vehicles.

Jobs

It’s estimated that the intermodal station project will create 280 temporary construction trade positions and, when completed, potentially offer 25 permanent positions.

View of the new train station from The Henry Ford.

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In this rendering, all three buildings for University of Michigan-Dearborn student housing can be seen.

Construction is set to begin this June on a new student housing project that will serve students attending the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

However, the plan to actually open the housing project has been delayed a year and now will not open until August 2013. The campus housing project was originally set to open in August of this year. See earlier story HERE.

“It is going to take a little longer because of financing (challenges),” said Ed Bagale, Vice Chancellor for government relations at the UM-Dearborn.

The good news is that the project is moving forward very quickly. The plan now calls for 521 beds by using two existing buildings and three other structures. The first existing building will be renovated into a student union with eight student apartments. The second existing building will be modified for additional student apartments. The primary apartments will consist of three attached buildings.

To connect the apartments to the UM-Dearborn campus, a walkway will eventually be constructed over Evergreen Road. In the interim, a stoplight will be installed so students can cross.

One of the more interesting options to students who move to this new campus will be the availability of a nutritionist. Bagale tells Deepsaidwhat.com that when students move to UM-Dearborn the focus will be on their health. One of the first people students will meet with is a nutritionist who will map out a plan for healthy eating and living for the rest of their lives.

“It won’t just be a cool place to live,” Bagale said. “It will be place to improve the lives of students,  body, mind and spirit.”