Depot to be ADA compliant
Construction crews started a
three-month project recently to bring the Whitefish train depot’s
platform and entry ramps into compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
The new concrete platform will be 550
feet long and raised eight inches to be more level with passenger
train doorways. Currently, passengers use a small step stool placed
at each entry. A ramp is used for passengers in wheelchairs.
With the new design, passengers in
wheelchairs will still have to use a ramp, but the grade will be
less steep.
“This is designed to enable passengers
to board with minimal difficulty,” said Amtrak spokesperson Rob
Eaton.
The new platform will be heated to keep
ice and snow off during the winter. Crews estimate the work will be
complete by October.
The project is being funded by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The Recovery
Act includes an appropriation of $1.3 billion in grants that are to
be awarded to railroad projects.
The Whitefish project is obligated
$358,809 in federal funding, according to the latest Amtrak
report.
Amtrak states that the company is under
a mandate to provide ADA compliance at all stations, and that the
“poor conditions of the stations and platforms present a security
and safety risk.”
The goals of the project, Amtrak
states, are to preserve and create jobs and to invest in
infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.
Other Montana cities receiving funds
for new platforms include Lbby, Cut Bank and Browning.
Whitefish is Amtrak’s busiest station
in Montana with 66,813 riders in fiscal year 2010 and $7.69 million
in ticket revenue. The fiscal year is from October to September.
The depot is served daily by two Amtrak passenger trains on the
east-west Empire Builder route.
The West Glacier and Shelby stations
together are slated to receive $279,992 in Recovery Act funding
under the Mobility First Program which is aimed at eliminating or
reducing “physical barriers that prevent access to intercity
passenger trains for passengers that require wheelchairs.”
West Glacier’s ridership was 7,895 in
2010, and Shelby’s was at 16,534.