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Congressman Peters at the Press Conference held in Birmingham January 29, 2010
January 29, 2010
REGIONAL TRANSIT CENTER REACHES FUNDING GOAL, EVENT TODAY
Troy/Birmingham Transit Center Now Set to Break Ground This Year;Congressman Peters and City and State Officials to Announce Today
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Gary Peters, Troy Mayor Louise Schilling, Birmingham Mayor Rackeline Hoff and Michigan Department of Transportation officials will announce today that the Troy/Birmingham Multi-Modal Transit Center has now secured the total investments necessary to completely fund the project, and construction
on the transit center is now able to begin this year (event details below). President Obama announced yesterday that Michigan will receive $40 million in high speed rail funding from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act Congress enacted last year, and the State will invest a portion of these funds to build the new Transit Center. Congressman Gary Peters was the leading advocate in the U.S. House for securing funding for the Transit Center and has continuously sought to secure Recovery Act funding for the project for the past year.
“This is great news for the economy of Oakland County, and the region,” said Congressman Peters. “New jobs will be created during the construction of this new regional transit center, and the center will spur business growth and development once it is completed. Targeted, worthwhile investments in our communities that attract outside capital and improve the business climate and standard of living are exactly what we need to get our economy back on track. “
Until now, the fate of the Troy/Birmingham Transit Center had been indoubt. An agreement with a local developer who donated the land for theCenter said that ground needed to be broken on the facility by the endof 2010. Until last month, when Congressman Peters first secured federal investment to fund a portion of Center’s construction, it hadonly raised a fraction of the funds necessary to begin work.
When completed, the transit center will serve as a hub for regional public transportation, using existing Amtrak rail infrastructure along the Wolverine Corridor while providing a transfer point to SMART bus services, taxi and sedan connections consistent with the Detroit Regional Mass Transit Plan. It will also create more transportation opportunities for patrons of the Oakland/Troy Airport. Local and state level officials from both parties support the Center. Troy and Birmingham City officials have been working toward the creation of the Transit Center for years, as have local Chambers of Commerce and other local business leaders.
WHAT: Announcement on the Troy/Birmingham Transit Center and theCenter’s Future
WHO: Congressman Gary Peters, Troy Mayor Louise Schilling,Birmingham Mayor Rackeline Hoff , Tim Hoeffner,Administrator of MDOT’s High Speed Rail and Innovative ProjectAdvancement Office, Ron DeCook, Director of MDOT Office of Government Affairs
WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Today, Friday, January 29, 2010
WHERE: Birmingham City Commission Chamber, Room 205,151 Martin Street, Birmingham, MI
