The second public involvement meeting to discuss the Madison Passenger Rail Station Study was held virtually Feb. 6. A main objective of this meeting was to gather feedback from community members on potential sites for a passenger rail station. This study is one increment of the overarching Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050 — the proposed strategy to implement a statewide long-range rail transportation system.
Since its start in December of 2022, this study has existed through the partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Amtrak. Officials at this stage in the project have gathered data and reviewed prior studies in addition to identifying station area corridors– areas that are potential locations for a rail corridor.
There are six different areas that were established as potential stations. Of those six only three were deemed to meet the station needs — Downtown/Isthmus corridor, Oscar Mayer and Fist Street, according to Transportation Planner and Project Manager Liz Callin.
“So in this first evaluation, we really emphasized the rail operations to make sure that the area was feasible,” Callin said. “The multimodal connectivity and access is also a big part of looking at these corridors. It’s very important for passenger rail stations— people arriving on foot or perhaps with their bike are going to need to be able to easily walk to their destination or to be able to get on another mode of transit or transportations.”
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Priorities of the study includes increasing accessibility and operational needs, minimizing environmental impacts, maximizing ridership potential and capitalizing on economic development potential. Officials made plans to provide further evaluations and descriptions of these areas with the goal of selecting one site to be established in Madison.
Concerns from the community addressed during the meeting included the potential increase of traffic to station areas, climate effects on the lakes and future expansion needs. Another portion of the meeting addressed issues brought up by community members regarding the specific ways these potential stations would create an accessible environment. Community Outreach Specialist and the Public Information Officer for City Vision Zero Kristin Brodowsky addressed these concerns by outlining the cities approach to fostering inclusivity.
“The City will strive to make access to the station and rail service accessible to all Madison residents, including people with low incomes, people of color, and people who do not have access to cars,” Brodowsky said “The project will also make sure that any negative impacts do not disproportionately affect low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Staff will host meetings in different neighborhoods to make it easier for people to engage with the project, and provide up-to-date project information on its website for those that are unable to make it to in-person meetings.”
Callin urged the public to submit feedback on the sites in preparation for the next meeting Feb. 29 through their website. Plans for the next meeting include refining evaluations with the goal of identifying the draft recommendations, according to Callin.
