Michigan House OKs HrSR route funds

By a 101-to-8 vote, Michigan’s House of Representatives Wednesday passed SB 237, a supplemental appropriations bill committing roughly $32 million to match a $358.9 million federal grant, in order to acquire Norfolk Southern Corp.’s Kalamazoo-Dearborn segment of the Chicago-Detroit Wolverine Corridor, which spans the state.

Funding also would upgrade the route and replace or rebuild stations as well as make improvements to that corridor and replace or rebuild stations The remainder of the $398.1 million total cost comes from $20.45 million in local and private funding, reportedly including about $16 million from Norfolk Southern.

The federal funding amount includes $160 awarded in 2010, which came with a 20% match requirement of $32 million (the amount approved Wednesday) that the state Senate refused to consider at that time.

The route, used by Amtrak, is part of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Network envisioned for several Midwest states. Amtrak owns a portion of the route running west of Kalamazoo to the Indiana-Michigan border.