The project attempting to turn an old state railroad into a north-south passenger rail line has launched its next planning phase, which includes an in-depth study and a public input survey.
The survey would provide Groundwork, the non-profit spearheading the project, with essential data that would allow them move the project forward. The survey covers a wide range of variables, including travel patterns, potential routes, demand and cost.
Right now, there is an unused railroad corridor spanning 300 miles across Michigan. If revitalized into a passenger rail, it would connect cities like Detroit, Mount Pleasant, Cadillac and Petoskey.
In 2018, Groundwork conducted a feasibility study that gave a rough idea of what restoring the corridor may look like. Now, they've entered a deeper planning phase, examining possible station locations and finer details of the train itself.
Carolyn Ulstad, Groundwork's transportation project manager, says the idea for the railroad was inspired by wanting to connect Michigan communities through a safe and sustainable transportation method. Additionally, the project aims to boost economic activity along the rail line and make Michigan more competitive as a state.
Ulstad said the real value of the rail line lies in the fact that it already exists. The amount of construction needed to fix the corridor is significantly less than what would be required of a brand new rail.
"We're not creating miles and miles of new trackage where you're going through essentially what's considered green land," Ulstad said. "So the overall environmental impact should be quite low."
She went on to say that getting people out of their personal vehicles and onto trains would actually reduce state carbon dioxide emissions.
As far as costs, the current progress of the project has been funded through state and federal grants. Combined, about $2.3 million has been dedicated to feasibility research.
Going forward, Ulstad said there's no exact answer as to where the funds will come from. Groundwork is hoping to access funds from the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID program, but the potential costs to Michiganders remains unclear.
"If we are able to get into corridor ID with this project, it makes it much easier to access those federal funds and have that kind of cost sharing in place," she said. "But most likely, at least from what we've seen with other rail, like newer rail lines through the Amtrak system, usually there is some kind of state support that is needed to go along with the federal funds."
Despite the unknowns, Ulstad said Groundwork expects steady support from the survey.
"So far, the feedback that we've been getting from the communities, from the surveys, so far seems very positive," Ulstad said. "We feel that there's a lot of community sentiment and desire to see this happen as quickly as possible."
The project will not be able to move forward until data from the survey is collected. The results are expected to be finalized in the next few months.
