Springfield-Sangamon Transportation Center
The ‘’’Springfield-Sangamon Transportation Center’’’ is a projected consolidated intermodal facility to serve Springfield, Illinois as a station for municipal bus and paratransit service, intercity bus service, and Amtrak trains. A real estate footprint has been selected for the Center on Ninth and Adams Streets in Springfield, just north of the Sangamon County Courthouse.[1]
Construction of the $80.0 million Transportation Center will fit into the ‘’Springfield Rail Improvements Project’’, an ongoing, multi-year construction project. During the 2010s, this $356 million project will re-route passenger and freight railroad operations away from the historic Chicago and Alton right-of-way, which is street running in parts of Springfield. The train traffic, including Amtrak, will be re-routed onto a non-street-running right-of-way operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The new Springfield train station will follow the trains to their new route.[1]
The new Center will also follow the current paradigm of consolidating sites of major passenger train service together with motorbus hubs in a location with a motor vehicle parking lot or garage. The Bloomington-Normal Amtrak station, completed in 2012 on the same Amtrak route, already follows this paradigm. The new Center will be constructed in compliance with guidelines established under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Construction is set to begin in late 2021, with a tentative completion date in 2024.[1]
The new Center's railroad right-of-way uses a right-of-way formerly used by the Wabash Railroad. The railroad's former Lincoln Depot, one block south of the new intermodal station, is preserved as the site of the departure of Abraham Lincoln for Washington, D.C. on February 11, 1861, and the site of Abraham Lincoln's farewell address. After the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, many Americans of African ancestry found work in the nation's fast-growing railroad industry, including on the Wabash. The streetscapes near the Wabash became Springfield neighborhoods of predominantly African-American identity until 1908, when they were targeted in the Springfield Race Riot of 1908. The streets around the Transportation Center were a focus and target of the rioters, and the center is being designed so as to contain an exhibit and memorial, intended to be permanent, to remember the tragic event.[1]
Construction of the new station will entail abandonment by Amtrak of their current passenger depot. The current station was opened for service by the Chicago and Alton in 1895.[1]
See also
• Springfield station (Illinois)
References
- ^ a b c d e Spearle, Steven (March 26, 2021). "What to expect from Springfield-Sangamon Transportation Center after first virtual look". State Journal-Register. Springfield, Ill. Retrieved March 27, 2021.