From AnnArbor.com
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje July 27, 2011 released a five-page missive on the Fuller Road Station project city officials are considering on a portion of Fuller Park, calling it a “one-time opportunity for our community to advance into the modern age of rail.”
The letter touches on how the project could be funded and what impact it could have on general fund activities like police and fire protection.
The big-picture concept for Fuller Road Station, Hieftje writes, is a multimodal transit hub that includes accommodations for automobiles, trains and buses, as well as walking and biking facilities. It’s proposed for the south side of Fuller Road in front of the University of Michigan medical campus, where a paved parking lot sits close by the east-west rail line.
“It will serve the park and facilitate job growth at one of the fastest growing employment centers in our region, the University of Michigan Health Center, where 24,000 people go every day,” Hieftje writes, adding it also will serve downtown and U-M’s north and central campuses.
Hieftje goes on to say the entire project — both the first and second phases — can be built without any significant upfront cost to the city.