11th Street Plan

View 11th Street Plan in a larger map
Based on the PDF provided by NICTD to the City of Michigan City.
Note: This is the original “Option 1″ used in September and approved in previous studies.

Perhaps for NICTD it is a case of playing devil’s advocate, but if funded any study will move the project ahead. The City of Michigan City and NICTD are working together to get funding to study the northern alignment along the existing Amtrak line. Excerpts from a Michigan City News Dispatch article follow:

Mayor, NICTD to seek funds for South Shore study
Michigan City News Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY – Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie said he will join the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District in seeking federal funds for a preliminary engineering study of the South Shore Line relocation that analyzes a northern corridor near the Amtrak line.

Mark Yagelski, county councilman and member of the NICTD board:

“NICTD has no problem with it (North End) if it can get the funding for it,” Yagelski said. “As earmarks are getting less and less, we’re looking for a process to finance this. We’re going to have to make some sound decisions and not keep talking.”

Yagelski cautioned that federally mandated changes have to be made by 2015, which is not far away.

John Parsons, NICTD planning and marketing manager:

The federal funding for 2010 already has been allocated, Parsons said, so the next few months will be critical in applying for funding available in 2011.

Parsons noted that NICTD’s own analysis of realigning the existing corridor or moving to the northern route showed that the cost of the northern route was three times higher because it requires a 9,000-foot elevation estimated to cost about $300 million.

Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie:

Oberlie believes NICTD will be open to looking at both routes.

“My sense is NICTD is willing to look at routes that will not increase operating times, that reduce costs, that provide opportunities to increase ridership and that improve the safety of its riders and the general public,” he said.

Video of 11th St westbound. Per NICTD’s plan, this section of track will be moved south one property (the properties to the left in this video). The current street running continues west along 10th St (one block north). That section is expected to be removed with a new path passing south of the properties on 10th St.

On July 29th, Michigan City held it’s first public meeting devoted solely to the topic of relocating the NICTD/South Shore railroad. The meeting was invited to the workshop in the July 28th Michigan City News-Dispatch and covered in the July 30th Michigan City News-Dispatch. More than 150 people showed up to begin the public part of the planning process.

With a 2015 deadline approaching NICTD needs to move forward to get their tracks out of the city streets. After removal, trains will need to get from the yard on Carroll Ave to the main railroad on the west side of town.

The most popular path over the years has been a plan to go north along former Norfolk Southern tracks to the Amtrak line on the north side of Michigan City then along side the South Shore Freight yard to meet the existing main line near the county line. The big problem with this alignment is Trail Creek … which is crossed by Amtrak via a single track swing bridge. This bridge gives boats the right of way – which means a rush train could be delayed if the bridge needs to be opened for boat traffic. A high level bridge similar to the US12 bridge over trail creek could be built but the cost is prohibitive (an estimated $200-$300 million dollars).

A second option would be to take the line south along the CSX route that passes to the east of the Michigan City yard. While not as expensive as the north route, this option would still cost over $65 million and would cost NICTD extra operating expenses to get their trains eastward to the line then reversed to get on the CSX line.

The new option is literally a “middle ground”. The existing successful 11th St alignment will be moved “one lot south”. Properties along the south side of 11th St from East Michigan Ave (US 35)  to Chicago Ave would be purchased. NICTD would build a double track railroad along that path continuing west just north of the prison property rejoining the existing line at (or near) Sheridan Ave. (A few properties on 10th St would also need to be purchased.) The initial build would be a single track with a double track at the new 11th Street station downtown.

The new station would have high level platforms for fast boarding (also satisfying ADA requirements) and an expected 800 parking slots. This replaces the non-compliant “street boarding” station and 37 car lot. The Carroll Ave station (compliant with a manual chair lift) with 201 parking slots (plus overflow) would be closed.

A PDF of the plan is available on the City of Michigan City’s website – PDF