Mayor Hieftje says he's still 'gung-ho' about Ann Arbor-to-Detroit rail line

Mayor John Hieftje says he's still hopeful an Ann Arbor-to-Detroit rail project will happen.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"We're not in doubt that the project is going to take place," Hieftje said. "We are still gung-ho. We cannot drag other governmental entities along quite as fast as we'd like to move, but again, we're already in discussions of how we make the rail work, even if it is a shortened version."

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and Michigan Department of Transportation are spearheading the regional rail project to link Ann Arbor and Detroit. But SEMCOG officials announced recently that the project would be delayed indefinitely due to a lack of federal funding.

"This is a temporary setback," Hieftje said, speaking at today's monthly Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority meeting. "We view the potential for this rail as being especially strong and we are out there going after it."

Hieftje's comments came in response to a call to action issued publicly today by Peter Allen, a local real estate developer. Addressing the DDA's governing board, Allen said the city of Ann Arbor, Detroit and Ypsilanti should take charge and not leave it up to SEMCOG to make the project happen.

"I think we need someone to stand up and shout that it has to get done," said Allen, an emerging transportation activist. "I wish that somebody would take a responsible leadership role with that issue and try to make something happen."

Washtenaw County leaders expressed disappointment in SEMCOG last week and even said they're considering pulling their funding out of the organization representing governments in seven counties throughout Southeast Michigan.

Hieftje said he's been in continued talks with SEMCOG officials and right now the only hang-up is the inability to land federal funding for improvements needed to connect to Detroit. SEMCOG and MDOT are asking the federal government for money for sidings, which allow trains to wait on a sidetrack while other trains with the right-of-way pass.

Hieftje said today it's possible that service to other stops along the route could be implemented sooner, with connections to Detroit coming later. He said connecting to Ypsilanti or Detroit Metro Airport are not constrained by the siding problem.

Hieftje noted that Dearborn received $30 million in federal stimulus funding recently for construction of a new building and platform at the Dearborn Amtrak Station. Those funds were part of a larger $244 million award to the Michigan, Indiana and Illinois state transportation departments to help fund the development of high-speed rail corridors linking Detroit and Chicago.

"Transit-oriented development is sweeping the nation right now and we're seeing all sorts of investment and people buying homes and moving in the areas around where transit connects," Hieftje said.

Hieftje said about 4,000 people with Ypsilanti zip codes work at the University of Michigan's medical complex. He predicted there will be a housing boom around downtown Ypsilanti the day its residents can take a 10-minute train ride to Ann Arbor for work.

"And I think about the eventual outcomes that we're going to see in Broadway Village, which is ... not a very long walk to the Fuller Transit Station," he said. "So you begin to see the regional effect that is only going to happen when there's a rail in place. And that same thing would occur up and down that line."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.