Dearborn, Birmingham stations win federal funds

Dearborn and Birmingham are the big winners when it comes to acquiring federal funds for mass transit projects.The two Metro Detroit suburbs and Battle Creek will split $40 million in federal stimulus funds to build or improve their train stations along the Detroit-Chicago railroad line, commonly known as the Wolverine Line. How that money will be split has not been determined yet.”We’re hopeful we’ll get the full amount,” says Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn.Dearborn is planning to invest $28 million to move its Amtrak station closer to a new building near The Henry Ford. That facility would facilitate both trains, buses, cars, bicyclists and pedestrians. It is also seen as a key stop in the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.Birmingham also has similar designs for a new multi-modal transit station. That $7 million project would build a station that can also facilitate train, bus, car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. It is planned to go up in Birmingham’s Rail District, an area that borders Troy and would serve as a stop on the planned northern expansion of the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line into Oakland County.Source: Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of DearbornWriter: Jon Zemke