<body><div>STERLING HEIGHTS — The idea of Macomb County residents catching a train in Sterling Heights bound for downtown Detroit, Metropolitan Airport or Chicago is envisioned in a report presented to the City Council this month. Although still just a concept, the city is positioning itself to champion the possibility of passenger rail service and is poised to start an ongoing conversation among the myriad partners and agencies needed to pull off the plan. Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said the ambitious initiative stems from City Council’s directive “to take a look at futuristic visioning type concepts for passenger rail service in Sterling Heights.”“Some may say that’s really far-fetched. Could that ever happen in Sterling Heights?” Vanderpool said at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting. “And the answer is absolutely. We have the backbone right here in our city.” That “backbone” is an existing Conrail corridor that runs through Sterling Heights and Warren. If preserved, the north-south corridor is a stepping stone to establishing train transportation in Michigan’s third- and fourth-largest cities and connecting Macomb County to a wider travel network. Beyond commuter convenience, officials also foresee potential economic and residential growth as offshoots of the project. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=07O8IF_1H3rPoqJ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=07O8IF_1H3rPoqJ00" width="1800" height="1270" ><figcaption>A rendering depicts a passenger train stop in Sterling Heights. The city is set to begin talks with various stakeholders that could turn a concept into action toward establishing commuter rail service in Macomb County. Image provided by the city of Sterling Heights</figcaption></figure>Making connectionsIn a white paper prepared by city administration representative Nahro Matti, the possibility of local train transit is analyzed, with initial priorities and next steps outlined, along with a vision of future use. “The proposed service concept would focus on regular passenger rail service, potentially operating about once per hour during the main service day,” the report states. “The line would support downtown sports and entertainment travel, and it could also help with airport-oriented trips to DTW. However, the larger purpose would be to give Macomb County residents a practical connection to the existing rail network, especially for trips to Chicago and other cities that are already served by Amtrak.” The report proposes a train station at the site of the city-owned Velocity business incubator building on 18 Mile Road between Van Dyke Avenue and Mound Road. Other potential station areas identified include stops in Warren near the General Motors Technical Center and in the Eight Mile Road area, with further connections to downtown Detroit, DTW airport and accessibility to more Midwest locations. “The main goal of this concept is to connect Macomb County, including Sterling Heights and Warren, to the wider passenger rail system serving Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Chicago, and other destinations,” the report states. The first step in bringing the concept to life is ensuring the existing railroad corridor, which is owned by Conrail and currently is used solely for freight tied to industrial and auto-related activity, remains intact. The report noted that Conrail is already removing parts of the rail line north of 22 Mile Road and says preventing further dismantling is essential for any passenger rail plans. “Once a corridor is gone, the public sector usually does not get a second chance,” the report states. “Land gets repurposed, crossings change, adjacent uses adapt, and any future transit discussion starts from scratch. From a city planning perspective, that is why it makes sense to study the line while it still exists.” In a news release, Vanderpool, the Sterling Heights city manager, reiterated that maintaining the infrastructure is key to moving the transit discussion forward. “Preserving this corridor keeps an important transportation option available for our residents and the region,” Vanderpool said. “We are beginning a regional conversation about whether this existing asset could support future passenger rail service and meet Sterling Heights and the surrounding area’s long-term transportation needs. While we are not committing to a rail project today, we recognize that losing portions of the corridor would make that opportunity much more difficult to pursue.” Moving forward, Sterling Heights plans to hold preliminary discussions with Warren, Detroit, Macomb County, Conrail, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, SMART, Amtrak and other stakeholders. Officials said those conversations would help determine regional interest and potential support for a professional feasibility study, which would evaluate passenger demand, track conditions, coordination with freight operations, station locations, safety, costs and funding options. Officials said public input would also be part of evaluating any future passenger rail proposal. Partners neededSterling Heights Councilman Michael Radtke said he has been working on the idea of passenger rail service for years, calling it “tremendous amenity” for the city and the county. Although the price tag for the overall plan was pegged at hundreds of millions of dollars — which officials noted are only rough estimates at such an early stage — Radtke believes the initial figures are “very high” and said there are ways to control costs such as utilizing the existing Velocity building rather than constructing a separate structure for passengers. He added that a transit center developed in neighboring Troy more than a decade ago was accomplished with a lower cost than a similar segment of the Sterling Heights concept plan. The city’s exploration of passenger rail service also aligns with Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson’s vision for high-speed rail connections in Michigan and Radtke said Sterling Heights’ new representative in Congress, Christina Hines, “seemed to be very receptive to the passenger rail proposal” when he discussed it with her recently. “I (would) like to continue to talk to our federal partners about possibly funding an actual study … that would tell us what we would need and why,” Radtke said at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting. “We have a brand-new congresswoman for our area and I talked to her about this. This is one of the things that new congresspeople love to get up and running. It’s something they can do immediately for the community.” Nate Hatton, an Amtrak conductor and official of a union that represents transportation and railroad workers, urged city leaders to give the plan “serious consideration.” He noted that railroads were once part of the region’s transportation scene and reviving that service has myriad benefits. “For generations, passenger trains have connected Macomb County communities with Detroit and destinations throughout Michigan. As recently as 1964, Warren and Center Line had scheduled passenger service,” Hatton said. “Today, more than 60 years later, Sterling Heights and Warren are among Michigan’s largest cities, yet neither has direct access to our state’s passenger rail network. As a working railroad conductor, I see firsthand the value of passenger rail rooms to communities. It connects people to employment, education, family and economic opportunities. “Imagine residents of Sterling Heights being able to board a train in their own community, connect to downtown Detroit, the airport, or Amtrak service to Chicago and beyond. This isn’t simply about bringing trains back to Macomb County. It is about connecting one of Michigan’s most populated regions to a larger transportation network.” Radtke said establishing the passenger rail service as outlined in the city’s white paper would likely be a “decade-long process,” but he’s pleased the idea is being pursued and optimistic it could succeed. “I don’t think we’re going to get there quickly,” he said, “but if we have a governor who is in line with our goals — and it seems like the City Council appears to have at least a commitment to explore the possibility — and if we have federal partners who want to work with us, I think that the stars are aligning for us to really start to think big.” </div></body>

Block Source: candgnews.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

STERLING HEIGHTS — The idea of Macomb County residents catching a train in Sterling Heights bound for downtown Detroit, Metropolitan Airport or Chicago is envisioned in a report presented to the City Council this month. Although still just a concept, the city is positioning itself to champion the possibility...

Sterling Heights exploring passenger train service

NewsBreak

STERLING HEIGHTS — The idea of Macomb County residents catching a train in Sterling Heights bound for downtown Detroit, Metropolitan Airport or Chicago is 

Sterling Heights exploring passenger train service

Comments / 1