(The following story by Mike Ivey appeared on the Captial Times website on August 1, 2009.)
MADISON, Wisc. — Fast forward to 2013.
President Barack Obama, fresh off a narrow re-election victory over Sarah Palin, is celebrating the opening of new Amtrak service between his hometown of Chicago and Madison.
Obama is riding with Gov. Jim Doyle and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz as the train rumbles past East Towne and under Wisconsin 30 and starts across East Washington Avenue.
“There’s the Capitol,” says Obama, looking out the window of a new Spanish-built Talgo passenger car. But instead of slowing, the train sweeps around the corner at First Street and starts heading back out of town.
“Wait a second,” says the confused president. “I thought you promised we’d stop in Madison for a beer?”
Doyle looks sheepishly at Cieslewicz before answering.
“We will eventually stop, Mr. President, but the new Madison train station is actually out at the airport,” an embarrassed Doyle explains. “We’ll have to get a ride back into town.”
“Forget that,” says Obama, grabbing his briefcase and ordering the engineer to stop at East Johnson Street. “I’m thirsty. You airport guys can meet me later.”
With federal funding for rail service between Madison and Milwaukee tantalizingly close, a group of downtown advocates — including a prominent real estate developer and a successful restaurant owner — is making a pitch for locating a new train station at First Street and East Washington Avenue rather than the Dane County Regional Airport.
The so-called “Yahara Station” is on the existing mainline route that would bring Amtrak trains in from Milwaukee. Supporters note that the tracks at that point are just 1.7 miles from the Capitol, compared to 5.1 miles for the airport site.
Moreover, they argue a First Street location has unlimited potential for sparking “transit-oriented” development of apartments, stores or offices that could generate millions in new property tax revenues while providing a catalyst for the long-awaited overhaul of the blighted East Washington Avenue corridor.
“Compare that to the airport, where you have zero opportunity for anything like that,” says Barry Gore, a Madison-based urban planner who has previously worked on transit issues in Chicago and the Twin Cities.
Tom Miller, a senior planner and real estate developer with the Alexander Co., agrees about the possibilities. He was waving a copy of the city’s BUILD plan to revitalize East Washington Avenue during a recent tour of the proposed station site behind the old Fiore shopping center.
“The (East Wash) plan shows great vision, but the fact is it’s not going to happen on its own,” says Miller. “What better way to jump-start it than by putting the train station here.”
But officials with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are leery of making last-minute changes they fear could jeopardize chances to land some of the $8 billion in federal stimulus money earmarked for high-speed rail. Applications are due by September — with a decision expected from Washington by the end of the year.
The airport site for a Madison train station was first identified in a 2000 state report on establishing passenger rail service between Chicago and St. Paul. Much of the preliminary environmental work on the site was completed in 2004, with the airport scoring high marks for its existing parking facilities and regional location.
“The bottom line is: Do we want passenger rail now, funded with federal funds, or do we wait for work to be done on a downtown station, fund it ourselves and continue to wait many more years?” says Chris Klein, chief aide to state DOT secretary Frank Busalacchi.
State officials are optimistic about securing a piece of the Obama administration’s stimulus package aimed specifically at passenger rail. While Wisconsin and other Midwestern states are competing for funding with other states, the fact that Obama hails from Chicago has supporters hopeful.
“It’s looking very promising,” says Kevin Brubaker, deputy director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center of Chicago, who predicts the Midwest could see $2 billion to $3 billion for high-speed rail during an initial funding round.
In Wisconsin, the plan is to upgrade existing tracks between Milwaukee and Madison to eventually handle trains traveling up to 110 miles per hour, although 70 mph is more realistic initially. Faster speeds are crucial for competing with cars and planes for passengers, rail advocates say.
Shorter travel times were a key factor in 2002 when officials with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation sent a letter to then-Mayor Sue Bauman, saying a “single airport station best serves the interests of the Madison community and the overall service goals of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.”
City of Madison officials initially balked at the decision and at one point talked about pursuing two train stations: one at Monona Terrace and another on the east side. But eventually the issue faded as rail dollars failed to materialize, gasoline prices fell, and talk of trains went to the back burner.
With federal rail money looking likely, however, the question over station location has come up again — much to the chagrin of some state and local officials who were hoping to keep things quiet to avoid any last-second controversy.
One initial problem identified with a station downtown at Monona Terrace was the need to back trains out to rejoin the main line, adding 30 minutes to the trip and creating traffic snarls downtown. But the Yahara Station plan avoids that hang-up by sticking to the mainline route, eliminating the need for trains to reverse course out of the downtown.
Gore has researched the Yahara Station site extensively and thinks there is more than enough room to create a 600-foot platform for boarding passengers without blocking vehicle traffic. His plan calls for taking a small portion of Burr Jones Field for the platform while putting the station itself along First Street. The city-owned transportation fleet services site on East Johnson could be sold to a private developer or used for a temporary surface parking lot.
In either case, Gore says Yahara Station is close enough to downtown to make it convenient for serving Monona Terrace, state government and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He notes the proximity to a new Yahara River bike path, the 14 Madison Metro routes that currently serve the site, the density of population in nearby neighborhoods, and the quick highway connection to the interstate via Wisconsin 30.
Gore also thinks a majority of regular train users would be traveling between Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago for business or leisure on one of six scheduled trips daily. He insists many passengers would board for the short haul, meaning they wouldn’t be carrying much luggage or needing to stash a car long-term in a ramp.
“Putting a train station on the outer fringe of town with a big parking lot around it is very 1970s thinking,” says Gore, 48, who holds a master’s degree from UW-Madison and studied under renowned urban planning professor emeritus Phil Lewis. “Madison has got a tremendous chance to be part of the transit-oriented movement, but I’m afraid we’re going to blow it.”
Obama’s own transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, recently spoke to the Senate about the need to design cities around transit, making it possible for people to reduce the number of automobile trips in their daily lives. He says that’s one key to reducing the approximately 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by the nation’s existing transportation system.
“We can promote mixed-use development, which incorporates residential and commercial buildings, allowing individuals the choice to walk, drive a shorter distance or easily use public transportation to reach their destination,” LaHood says.
State officials say they are aware of these issues but maintain the airport is still the best site for an initial Amtrak station.
“It’s part of the through route to the Twin Cities, there are no traffic impacts to mitigate, and the station is intended to serve residents outside of downtown Madison,” says Klein of the state DOT.
Even Mayor Cieslewicz is backing the airport site, choosing not to rock the boat with federal rail funding close at hand.
“I don’t think it’s a choice between an airport and a downtown station,” he says. “At some point we might have both. However, one of the things that makes us a very strong candidate for winning federal funding for high-speed rail this year is the fact that we are literally ‘shovel ready.’ ”
Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonell has been a leading supporter of a commuter rail system linking Madison and its suburbs. He is intrigued with the Yahara Station plan but says it has other shortcomings.
“It would be nice for people on the near east side of Madison, but it still doesn’t get you downtown to the hotels or businesses,” he says.
Gore counters that the Yahara Station tracks are next to the right-of-way for a potential Dane County commuter rail if that ever becomes reality. He also notes the short and easy cab ride down East Washington for visitors looking to get to Monona Terrace or the Capitol quickly.
“All of these side issues can be worked out,” he says. “The point is, once you put an Amtrak station out at the airport, you’re locked into that location.”
Yahara Station backers also think the argument about a station controversy jeopardizing funding for Midwest rail is a red herring. They note that Wisconsin has moved to purchase two new Spanish-built Patentes Talgo train sets for $47.5 million, suggesting that Gov. Doyle has already been told to expect federal rail dollars.
Sarah Reiter, a member of the city’s Downtown Coordinating Committee, thinks once the public actually gets a look at the route map, support will build for a First Street location.
“I don’t think most people have even seen it,” she says.
One who has seen the route and is very excited about the possibilities is local restaurateur Christopher Berge, owner of Restaurant Magnus, Weary Traveler and other venues in Madison.
Berge says he would be excited to pursue a restaurant in a location like Yahara Station but seriously wonders if an airport location would generate the same kind of energy or attract many private sector investors.
“I’ve been around long enough to remember when they decided to move the MATC campus out by the airport and saw what that did to downtown,” he says. “This decision will be just as epic, and we shouldn’t miss it this time.”