Fiscal Note
The siting of a rail station will have significant future fiscal implications, but no expenditure or City financial commitment is required in conjunction with this Resolution.
Title
SUBSTITUTE - Regarding the location of a high speed rail station in the city of Madison.
Body
WHEREAS, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has been granted federal funding to establish intercity passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison as part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative; and
WHEREAS, being successful in its application for federal funding, WisDOT will soon undertake final design of the Milwaukee-to-Madison rail corridor, including environmental assessment and selection of one or more passenger train station locations for Madison; and
WHEREAS, WisDOT, in its application for federal funding, did notNOT specify a station location to servefor Madison; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison is a primary stakeholder in the decision of where to place the station and has a strong interest in ensuring that any passenger rail station be located as close as possible to major destinations, particularly those in its urban core, and that the station provide arriving passengers with convenient access to the city while providing departing passengers with convenient access to trains; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison is already on record as supporting an inter-city rail station that would “provide the best proximity to key employment, University, recreational and residential destinations in the central area of the City”; and
WHEREAS, WisDOT has limited its selection of possible sites to four: Kohl Center, Monona Terrace, First Street (commonly known as Yahara Station) and the Dane County Regional Airport; and
WHEREAS, central, multi-modal surface transportation hubs have been shown time and again to be of exceptional benefit to the cities in which they are located;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council of the City of ...
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