This morning I attended the groundbreaking of the new $49 million Normal, Illinois Multimodal Transportation Center. The facility has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade, but thanks to a $22 million grant from stimulus funds, construction is beginning on this project that will serve intercity train and bus riders, local public transporation, airport shuttles, and taxis. The new facility is located only two blocks from the Illinois State University campus and stradles a 24-mile network of local bike paths.
Senator Dick Durbin, Rep. Debbie Halvorson, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff, and other local dignitaries and Amtrak officials spoke at the groundbreaking for the facility, which will employ an estimated 375 construction workers for the next two years. This facility will be the capstone on a revitalization project of the Normal central business district, which has included construction of a 9-story Marriott Hotel and convention center, a five-story mixed use facility, a traffic circle and fountain, a four-story Children’s Museum, and several other projects. Moreover, every new construction project in Normal is LEED certified.
About 250 people gather in Uptown Normal for the Groundbreaking of the Normal Multimodal Transporation facility.
Very quietly, Normal, Illinois has become one of the busiest Amtrak stations between the Rockies and the Allegenys. In fact, between California and Central Pennsylvania only the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis Amtrak stations serve more passengers than the tiny facility in Normal. In addition to Illinois State, the Bloomington-Normal area is also home to the headquarters of State Farm Insurance, Country Financial Insurance Company, Illinois Wesleyan University, Heartland Community College, Lincoln College Normal, and the only Mitsubishi Motors assembly plant in the US.
Sen. Dick Durbin speaks as a northbound Amtrak train pulls into the Normal, IL Amtrak station. The new facility will be completed in the summer of 2012 and serve Amtrak passengers, intercity busses, airport shuttles, local public transit, taxis, and the 24-mile Consitution Trail bike path, among others.
Meanwhile, thanks to an $1.2 billion federal grant recently awarded to the Chicago-St. Louis rail corridor, work has begun south of Normal to upgrade the tracks to allow speeds up to 110 mph. Already, this corridor serves nearly a million train riders riders per year. When increased speeds cut the travel time between Chicago and St. Louis, ridership is expected to increase even more than the yearly 11% increase the corridor is currently experiencing.
Among the speakers at the event today was Bill Brady, a Republican State Senator running for Governor against Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn. In fairness, Brady has worked fairly hard to help this project come to his district. However, at times the Teabagger-friendly Republican looked very uncomfortable at the praise for the Obama stimulus funds that made the difference in moving this project from the drawing board to reality. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Pat Quinn did not attend the event, leaving Brady to look uncomfortable about government spending for a project in his district that he would surely decry had it been elsewhere.
Approximately 70 construction trade union members attended the event clad in orange shirts to applaud the infrastructure investment that will give them steady work for the next two years.
Additional links:
Town of Normal Website
Live construction Webcam
Facts and Figures:
What it will cost....
Building: $15.45 million
Parking deck/bus bays: $11.05 million
Rail platform: $1.5 million
Interior build-out: $3.7 million
Furniture, fixtures, equipment: $1,732,500
Site preparation: $350,000
Adjacent roads/infrastructure: $9,833,730
Soft costs, such as design and architect fees: $4 million
Contingency fund: $1.5 million
Total: $49,116,230
Funding sources:
TIGER grant: $22 million
Other federal money: $11,583,315
State funding: $1,232,981
Local money: $14,299,934
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What it will look like:
• 68,000 square feet
• First floor: ticketing, waiting and baggage areas; coffee vendor, newsstand, retail kiosks
• Second/third floors: Normal municipal offices
• Fourth floor: City Council chambers, multi-purpose meeting rooms available for public use
• Attached 400-space parking deck with bus bays on ground level and areas for taxis and shuttle service
• 760-linear-foot rail platform with permanent canopy on the south side of the building
• Will adjoin a future "Gateway Plaza," a public commons to be located between the transportation center and the Children's Discovery Museum