Fuller Road Station : All posts

Ann Arbor agrees to spend $550K for next phase of work on new Amtrak train station

As the federal government makes hundreds of millions of dollars in high-speed rail improvements along the Detroit-to-Chicago corridor, Ann Arbor is putting its own money on the table.

The Ann Arbor City Council decided Monday night to spend another $550,000 from its general fund cash reserves to study options for a new Amtrak station somewhere in the city. That comes on top of $307,781 the city already had included in its current fiscal year budget for the project.

with poll: Should Ann Arbor spend $550K for next phase of work on new Amtrak train station?

The parking lot on Fuller Road where Ann Arbor officials would like to see a new Amtrak station built in front of the University of Michigan Hospital.

Photo courtesy of city of Ann Arbor

The resolution, which is being co-sponsored by four council members, also outlines a process for putting the question of a new Amtrak station on a future election ballot. But before voters get to have a say, the city would continue spending money on the project.

Ann Arbor officials want to let voters decide if city should build new Amtrak train station

A look at the parking lot on Fuller Road where Ann Arbor officials have been considering building a new Amtrak train station. Park preservationists argue though the land is currently a parking lot, using city parkland to build a train station sets a dangerous precedent that could have negative implications for other city parkland in the future.

Photo courtesy of city of Ann Arbor

But whether the resolution will pass is yet to be determined — it involves taking up to $550,000 from the city's general fund cash reserves for the next phase of the project.

Mayor John Hieftje to Ann Arbor Connector project opponents: 'Just show a little bit of vision'

The Ann Arbor Connector project is focused on determining new transit options for a boomerang-shaped area that extends from northeast Ann Arbor, down through the area along Fuller Road where the city is planning a new train and bus station near the U-M medical complex, through Central Campus and downtown, and then south along State Street to Briarwood Mall and I-94.

Image courtesy of URS Corp.

But it's still expected to come back up at the City Council's next meeting after at least two council members who support the Ann Arbor Connector project— Sandi Smith and Margie Teall — threw their votes and strategically voted against it when they saw it wasn't going to pass.

Ann Arbor officials won't put city parkland charter amendment on November ballot

The Ann Arbor City Council heeded the advice of its citizen-led Park Advisory Commission Thursday night and decided against putting a city charter amendment on the November ballot.

Council Member Jane Lumm, the primary sponsor of the defeated proposal, was pushing for an amendment to put new restrictions on repurposing city parkland.

Mayor John Hieftje details his vision for funding proposed new train station in Ann Arbor

Mayor John Hieftje says Ann Arbor could get a new $30 million train station, and the city's share of the cost could be less than $3 million.

In his opinion, that's a bargain.

But that's only hypothetical, and others still aren't convinced.

Supporters of Ann Arbor city charter amendment accused of 'poorly disguised political stunt'

Ann Arbor City Council Member Jane Lumm fought unsuccessfully for a vote on her charter amendment proposal Monday night and was accused of orchestrating a "poorly disguised political stunt."

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

The Ann Arbor City Council delayed taking action Monday night on placing a proposed city charter amendment on the November ballot.

Mayor John Hieftje and other council members pushed for postponement of the proposal to give the city's Park Advisory Commission a chance to weigh in first.

Protecting parks: Ann Arbor charter amendment would force public vote on Fuller Road Station

Should the Ann Arbor city charter be changed so building a multimillion-dollar train station on city parkland would require a vote of the people?

At least four members of the Ann Arbor City Council believe so, and they're hoping at least three others will agree with them Monday night.

2nd Ward Ann Arbor City Council candidates differ on what should go atop Library Lot

Ann Arbor City Council Member Tony Derezinski and his opponent, Sally Hart Petersen, chat amicably following a debate Tuesday night at CTN studios.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Incumbent Tony Derezinski holds a master of laws degree from the prestigious Ivy League school, while his opponent, Sally Hart Petersen, holds an MBA from there.

Q&A with Jane Lumm on being back on City Council: 'I do think it's quite a bit different now'

Ann Arbor City Council Member Jane Lumm, an Independent serving the 2nd Ward, said she fears the city isn't governed well these days. She looks back fondly on the 1990s when she served as a Republican under GOP Mayor Ingrid Sheldon and is critical of Democratic Mayor John Hieftje.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Monday night council meetings still last into the early morning hours sometimes, but Lumm, who recently returned to her seat after a 13-year hiatus, says things have changed.

Ann Arbor accepts $2.8M federal grant for new train station but location not yet decided

Ann Arbor resident Sumi Kailasapathy urged Ann Arbor City Council members to hold off on taking action on items related to a new train station Monday night. "We should not be pouring tax dollars down the drain for a phantom transit plan," Kailasapathy said.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

That includes consideration of redeveloping the current Amtrak station on Depot Street, as well as the possibility of building a new train station on Fuller Road.

The Ann Arbor City Council voted 9-2 Monday night to finally accept a $2.8 million federal high-speed rail grant that was awarded to the state more than a year ago.

Derezinski vs. Petersen: 2nd Ward race for Ann Arbor City Council shaping up

The 2nd Ward race for the Ann Arbor City Council is shaping up with incumbent Tony Derezinski and his primary challenger both making their campaigns official.

Derezinski announced earlier this week he filed with the city clerk's office to seek re-election to a third term on council. Democratic challenger Sally Hart Petersen, a self-described marketing and business development expert, followed his lead and filed on Wednesday.

Briere to U-M on new parking plan: 'Please remember that good neighbors work together'

Sabra Briere didn't mince words Monday night as she sounded off on the University of Michigan's renewed plans to build a parking garage near Wall Street.

The 1st Ward Ann Arbor City Council member spoke toward the beginning of the council's regular meeting, voicing disapproval that U-M is once again proposing to build a a multimillion-dollar parking garage in a neighborhood that doesn't welcome the project.

Ann Arbor City Council approves 4-party agreement for countywide transit authority

Ann Arbor City Council Member Stephen Kunselman, D-3rd Ward, came out opposed to the four-party transit agreement at Monday night's meeting. He cited concerns about empty AATA buses running out to Chelsea and Canton from Ann Arbor.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

The decision came toward the end of a six-hour meeting, the majority of which was spent discussing the agreement with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. It now awaits approval from the other two parties: Washtenaw County and the city of Ypsilanti.

Council Member Tony Derezinski, D-2nd Ward, called the council's approval of the agreement the launch of "something very big."

EDITORIAL: Fuller Road site remains the best spot for a new Ann Arbor transit center

Depending on who you listened to, the new transit center that the city of Ann Arbor wants to build on Fuller Road was either a visionary concept that would propel our city in the the 21st century of transportation, or a glorified parking structure that would primarily benefit the University of Michigan.

That debate is now over. The city and the university have mutually agreed that they can no longer proceed jointly with a parking structure that was to constitute phase 1 of the ambitious plans for the Fuller Road transit station.

The decision makes sense for both parties. Yes, it sets the project back, but it also simplifies the discussion. Going forward, the concept of a new transit center will now have to stand on its own merits -- which it is capable of doing. We believe the case still exists to pursue this concept, and to locate it on Fuller Road even if it is not attached to a five-story parking ramp that’s no longer part of the picture.

with poll: Ann Arbor officials debate building new Fuller Road train station vs. upgrading current Amtrak site

A westbound Amtrak train to Chicago pulls into the Ann Arbor station on Wednesday. In the background is the University of Michigan Hospital, where the mayor and other city officials want to build a new train station on Fuller Road but others prefer keeping the Depot Street site.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Some, including Council Member Mike Anglin and the Huron Valley Group of the Sierra Club, argue the city should shift its attention away from Fuller Road to the existing Amtrak train station on Depot Street and run more buses in and out of that site.

Vivienne Armentrout | Guest Column

OPINION: Keep Ann Arbor's train station where it is and drop the Fuller Road site

We should keep the train station in Ann Arbor where it is and reject Fuller Road as a new site.

With change comes opportunity. The recent decision by the University of Michigan to pull out of the Fuller Road Station agreement with the City of Ann Arbor offers us a chance to reassess this location as a transit hub, especially for interurban and commuter rail. The only really solid reason for locating what was described as a multimodal train station on Fuller was the need for a U-M parking structure (see my blog post, localannarbor.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/fuller-road-station-its-all-about-parking/).

Ann Arbor halts Fuller Road Station plans as U-M seeks to build new parking elsewhere

The city of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan announced today they're halting plans for the first phase of Fuller Road Station as presently designed.

U-M is dropping its plans for a large parking structure on the site and will look elsewhere to build new parking facilities, officials confirmed.

Mayor John Hieftje said the decision to separate U-M's short-term plans to build new parking facilities for its hospital employees from the city's long-term plans for a train and bus station on Fuller Road has nothing to do with any controversy surrounding the project.

analysis: 5 issues that should top the city of Ann Arbor's priority list in 2012

Ann Arbor is poised for a significant transformation that might not be readily apparent to the casual observer, and 2012 could be the year that a few major initiatives get going.

Thousands of new beds are being added in and around the downtown with a wave of new housing developments, many of them catering to University of Michigan students.

That presents unique challenges and opportunities for the city, which owns several prime pieces of real estate in the downtown that are ripe for development of some kind.

And there are big talks happening around transit as the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority pushes ahead with an ambitious countywide expansion.

with poll: Joan Lowenstein's critique of the 'anti' party in Ann Arbor gets local politicos fired up

In a new column that appears in The Ann magazine, Joan Lowenstein, a former 2nd Ward Ann Arbor City Council member and current Downtown Development Authority board member, offers a harsh critique of residents she suggests stand in the way of progress.

She says Independent challenger Jane Lumm's defeat of Democratic incumbent Stephen Rapundalo in last month's council election makes her sad because it "heralds an un-Ann Arbor-like conservatism in the city's increasingly aging population."