Community members at a meeting on proposed sites for a downtown Ann Arbor WALLY commuter rail station supported the service coming to downtown Ann Arbor, the use of a minimal station, and for it to be located at 415 West Washington. Many of the people at last night's meeting however continue to have questions about the overall funding and operations of the proposed commuter rail between Howell and Ann Arbor.
Neal Billetdeaux is a landscape architect with Smith Group JJR. He says the 415 West Washington scored highest of six possible locations because of several factors. This includes the fact the property is owned by the city, was closest to the core of downtown, and has track at grade level on a portion of the site.
Challenges with the curvature of the track and other issues where the proposed WALLY and East-West Commuter rail lines cross make it unlikely that site could serve as a single station serving both lines and Amtrak.
