The Management Oversight Group (MOG) comprised of representatives from Michigan City and NICTD (Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District) has reached a consensus on the 10th/11th St. Central alignment alternative as the preferred alignment for the South Shore Line in Michigan City.
This decision was reached after an extensive, 2 year-long evaluative and progressive screening process the goal of which was to identify a preferred rail alignment that is in the best interests of NICTD and the City of Michigan City. The MOG has directed the engineering consultant Transystems to close out the TIGER II grant process and issue the final report of the project confirming the 10th/11th St. Central alignment as the preferred alignment.
The project, which was funded by a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant, required the City of Michigan City and NICTD to engage in intensive discussions regarding striking a balance between sometimes conflicting interests in maximizing operational efficiency, passenger usage, and improved operations for NICTD and positive economic development impact for the city of Michigan City.
Seven realignment options were analyzed based on a set of defined evaluation criteria. These criteria included improved mobility, environmental and community impact, operating efficiencies, and positive economic impact on Michigan City.
For over a century, the South Shore has provided valued service to Michigan City along a 2 mile segment of single track that is embedded in the middle of 10th and 11th Streets in Michigan City. From the railroad’s perspective, this “street running” results in adverse impacts on train operations, constrains the ability to enhance capacity, increases railroad and street maintenance costs, and creates unnecessary conflicts with vehicular and pedestrian traffic. From the City’ perspective, the most important criteria in evaluating the alignments was positive economic impact on Michigan City.
To address these concerns Michigan City and NICTD worked together in this selection process to explore feasible realignment options that will improve operating flexibility and capacity, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance vehicular and railroad safety as well as to better leverage the rail line for positive economic impact on Michigan City.
An additional component of this study evaluated the option of developing a new, modern, intermodal station and parking facility. The construction of the new alignment is subject to a NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) environmental review and availability of federal funding and other funding sources.
On the consensus, Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer said, “Michigan City has partnered with NICTD on a vision to build a new, state of the art, ADA accessible train station which will be an economic anchor to our downtown.” Meer continued, “Picture a new rail station and an enhanced 10th/11th St. corridor that all Michigan City residents can be proud of. With these improvements, the South Shore Railroad will be a powerful marketing tool to bring people to and from Chicago and South Bend and experience the tremendous assets of Michigan City’s downtown and lakefront.”
For more information, please visit www.emichigancity.com