March 3, 2011 - 4:44pm
City moves forward on planning for Fuller Road transit station
BY DYLAN CINTI
After recently getting approval from the Ann Arbor Planning Commission, the city is moving forward in a joint effort with the University to construct a transit center just north of the University Hospital.
At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Planning Commission approved the first phase of construction on the Fuller Intermodal Transit Center, which will include a five-level parking lot with 977 parking spots, according to a September 21 article in The Ann Arbor Chronicle. The center will additionally include a busing transit space, interior waiting room and a bicycle storage area for commuters.
Because the University is funding 78 percent of the roughly $60 million project, it will receive an equal percentage of the parking spaces, or more than 750 parking spots, according to Jim Kosteva, the University’s director of community relations.
In an interview yesterday, Kosteva said that because of the center’s proximity to the University Hospital, most of the University’s spaces will be used by hospital staff.
While the center remains a city project, Kosteva emphasized that the University has been highly involved throughout the whole process. The University took an interest in the project because of the opportunity it presents to accommodate an increased parking need, Kosteva said.
“As soon as it’s completed we intend to have those parking spaces made part of the University system,” Kosteva said.
The spaces will only be reserved for people with University parking passes, according to Kosteva. And only a limited number of University juniors and seniors are allowed to apply for such passes each year, he said.
Kosteva said the price of the parking spaces have not yet been determined. University parking passes range from just less than $18 to $64.25 for a monthly pass, according to the University’s 2010-2011 Parking Permit Proration Schedule.
In an interview yesterday, councilmember Christopher Taylor (D–Ward 2) said the proposal for the Fuller Road site construction will appear before the council at their Nov. 4 meeting.
The parking lot’s construction is part of an ambitious, long-term plan for the enhancing regional transportation, city transportation manager Eli Cooper told The Michigan Daily at a Feb. 9 city council meeting.
At the meeting, Cooper said the city plans to use the Fuller Road site to build a commuter train system, according to a Feb. 10 Daily article.
At the time, Cooper said the train system would run east-to-west and north-to-south through areas like Ypsilanti, Detroit and Dearborn, with the center serving as “a major transit corridor” for the city.
While the University is currently only backing the construction of the Fuller Road site, Kosteva said the University is also interested in the idea of a commuter train system.
“The University is engaged in a number of different activities to advance transportation options,” he said. “We foresee an ongoing role.”
Taylor said he’s optimistic the proposal will get broad support from the community. He said he predicts Ann Arbor residents will look favorably on the location of the site.
“The idea of the station is attractive to many,” Taylor said.
