East Lansing Amtrak Station Article

[Tim]

As of the CATA Board meeting of 8/19, some had but not all

[Steve B]

Tim, you said some leases had been signed but not all. Do you know which ones? I'll have to see if I can make it to the next board meeting. That seems to be the only way of finding out anything about this project's status.

[MiddleMI]

You could try simply emailing them. I don't agree that they are particularly stingy with information. I usually get a response back via email in a fairly timely manner. In fact, I've often times been replied to by the assistant executive director, herself.

[Steve B]

I admit I became a bit disillusioned with how the project was being handled after they cut down a couple of beautiful, huge trees in front of the old Printing Building for the new parking lot. I did e-mail them about that, and the response was basically "they're in the way of the permanent parking lot, sorry." An organization that fancies itself as "green" could have put the parking lot in around those trees. Especially considering that the site rendering seems to indicate that at least some of the current parking lot will be just empty space when all is finished. That could have been parking, and the trees saved. Yes, I'm a tree hugger and proud of it.

[jrgerber]

Wow 25% of a budget for "planning". what a cluster (fill in the blank).

[Tim]

The latest news release about the Depot was made over two years ago on 7/12/13 and said it was coming soon. The next board meeting is tomorrow 9/16 at 4pm at the CATA garage on Tanner St which is just west of the JAIL tracks between Cavanaugh and Jolly. I couldn't find the minutes for the last meeting only the proposed agenda and don't recall who had and had not signed leases. Good Luck!

[Steve B]

Thanks for the meeting info, Tim. Can't get over there because of work. I'm sure it was a simple mistake of CATA to schedule the board meeting at 4 pm on a weekday, when most of the public can't attend. Riiight...

[Standard Railfan]

Apparently CATA must enter into a lease with GTW for 0.30 acre of land..... See Action Item "I". I am trying to figure out where this parcel lies in relation to the station.

http://www.cata.org/Portals/0/docs/meet ... 052015.pdf

[Tim]

There are two property lines on the site plan, one is just south of the current platform and the other runs through more or less the centerline of the new depot and includes about 2/3 of the remaining MSU building. I would assume this is already covered by some sort of agreement. There is no Parcel B or any other parcel labeled on the site plan. Perhaps they want to lease more property to extend the platform to the west of the current one. Interesting that they are dealing with the GTW and not the CN.

[MiddleMI]

There are two property lines on the site plan, one is just south of the current platform and the other runs through more or less the centerline of the new depot and includes about 2/3 of the remaining MSU building. I would assume this is already covered by some sort of agreement. There is no Parcel B or any other parcel labeled on the site plan. Perhaps they want to lease more property to extend the platform to the west of the current one. Interesting that they are dealing with the GTW and not the CN.

The site plan actually shows three seperate parcels: the main parcel which includes basically all of the parking, driveways, etc..., then a small parcel in the northeast corner of the site that basically includes nothing (a part of a sidewalks runs through it), and finally a parcel to the north and west of the other two parcels that includes half the station building and half the warehouse on the back of the site. I imagine this is the parcel in question. Seems like it would have simply been easier to place all of the station in the larger parcel, though, that would have set the station building even further back form the platform than it already is.

This is kind of new to me, as I'd thought the entire site was a single parcel owned by MSU, but it appears only the largest portion was. Now that I think about it, however, I do remember before they'd bidded the thing out and found it too costly that they were saying they were having a hard time dealing with GTW in concerns to redoing the platform since it sat on GTW's property. After they'd spent what they did on design and engineering that problem sort of took care of itself (i.e. they didn't have the money, anyway, anymore). lol

Anyway, the current least for this parcel looks like a pittance (one-time payment of $5,000 for 25 years), so the only thing I can imagine is hanging this up if they haven't already signed it is simply they haven't prioritized it or there are some legal issues the two parties want to work out. Again, anyone could email CATA at its main email: info@cata.org

[Standard Railfan]

I viewed the subject area in the Viewer provided by Ingham County's Equalization Dept. The only identifiable parcels on the map are the ROW owned by GTW; the main triangular parcel owned by MSU; and the smaller rectangular parcel just south of the rail described in the previous posts, also owned by MSU.

You can navigate to the station site on the viewer here: http://ingham-equalization.rsgis.msu.ed ... iewer.aspx

I wonder if MSU leased a parcel to GTW or its predecessor(s) and GTW wants to lease it back?

[Tim]

Spent some time yesterday taking photos of the depots. No one was working on the new one. Looking through the windows it looks like they’re three waiting areas in the corners each one seating about 20 that will hopefully be open after hours. Beyond them is the core of the building that I assume will only be open when there is an attendant on duty. Couldn’t tell if bathrooms will be open after hours. There is a fairly large roof overhang but it is so high it won’t supply much protection if there is even a light wind. The platform has been repaved and extended to the west a fair piece. They didn't add any more ways to reach the train if it’s in the pass. The three original ones on the far east end remain.

[Steve B]

The platform's length hasn't been extended. The west end is a bit more visible, though, after all the vegetation was removed. Also, they didn't repave the easternmost several yards. The bathrooms only open to the inner core. They might as well leave the portajohns in place for night travelers.

[Tim]

Maybe they will leave an area with tall weeds to substitute for no bathrooms! A lot of the area to the south along the CSX and north of the main drive is not being used or landscaped.

[Steve B]

Haha-- the west end of the platform did serve as the "facilities" for many people back when the trees and brush were there. At night, what are people supposed to do when nature calls? Particularly those with disabilities and the elderly. Expecting them to find their way down the street to Taco Bell is neither fair nor realistic. It's a bit better now that Fresh Thyme is open until 10 every night, but that still isn't a good option for those who aren't familiar with the area or don't want to navigate a busy street and parking lots to get over there.

There used to be a fourth pedestrian crossover to Main 1, the westernmost of them, but it was removed some years back. Too bad because it was the closest to the new depot.

[jrgerber]

Open for buses on November 9, the platform was completely redone with blacktop. Amtrak passengers continue to use old depot:

http://www.cata.org/AboutCATA/NewsInfo/ ... fault.aspx

There was some discussion that the new depot original design was larger space wise, I remember some discussion about a $10 million dollar plus grant, the above article mentions a lesser amount of money.

[MiddleMI]

Gerber, it's no mystery. The original plans way back when in 2010 were for a larger project; some of this was for a larger station building, but the majority was for a parking garage which would have been built at the site. However, that was contingent on a TIGER grant that was never won; TIGER grants are super competitive. So CATA decided for something smaller. It's been a $6.3 million project since at least 2012 when the current plan came into being. I think what may also be confusing you is that the $6.3 million is just the Feds major grant. The rest of the financing cobbled together from other local, state and federal sources comes to a total of $10.48 million.

Anyway, CATA is still being coy on what the hang-up is for why Amtrak has not signed the lease. I've actually written someone who did a recent story on the bus station opening at the station to find out exactly what the hang-up is. We basically already know that it has something to do with ownership of part of the site up around the platform, which could mean that Grand Trunk Western (CN) is just dragging their feet. But, I'd like to hear it officially from someone.

[Tim]

The only site plan I ever saw didn't show a parking structure. Getting Information from a government bureaucracy is about as productive as tilting at windmills!

[Steve B]

Apparently it will take a few more weeks for Amtrak's IT dept. to connect things.

It's interesting to compare the seating arrangement with the old building. In new depot's 3 vestibules, I count 21, 18 and 12 seating spots on the benches. In the interior there are 63 spots. There are more places to sit than the old building, but the old one has padded seats. The new one has very uncomfortable hard metal benches inside and outside that slope downwards, requiring you to push your feet against the ground to keep from sliding off. Presumably this is an anti-loitering feature.

[MiddleMI]

The only site plan I ever saw didn't show a parking structure. Getting Information from a government bureaucracy is about as productive as tilting at windmills!

I've been following this from the beginning. There was another plan originally (2010) which a parking garage, but it was downsized after not being able to secure the TIGER grant. Really, can't we stop this relfexive anti-goverment stuff? I'm telling you about the original plans. It wasn't a secret or making an opinion; I'm sorry if you didn't follow the process from the beginning. Hell, the building we see, today, is actually the third concept and design for this project. Projects often change through the process while they are trying to piece together the financing. This isn't some new, mindblowing epiphany.