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Depot may be back on track By Leah Fillion Plans to build an intermodal rail/bus terminal in Taylor may be back on track soon. The terminal would provide a base for both Amtrak train passengers as well as the local Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) service. The facility could also bring in more commercial buses and taxis. The city has been trying to put the pieces of the project together since 2003 but Union Pacific never came through, CARTS Executive Director David Marsh said. Negotiations between the city and Union Pacific Corporation came to a complete halt over a year ago. The city and CARTS need the railroad company's cooperation because the depot would be built on property owned by UP. “Sometimes you need a champion within an organization to want to make something happen and I just don't think it was high on anyone's priority list (at Union Pacific). There is a new superintendent there and it is high on his list, I guess,” John Nelson, Taylor Economic Development Corporation executive director, said. Several years ago, the city received a $720,000 federal grant administered by the Texas Department of Transportation for the project. The original deadline for spending the money came and went last August, but city officials asked for and got a one-year extension to give UP time to make a decision. Now time is running out. If the money is not spent by August the city will lose the funding, Marsh said. “We think we are getting closer on making arrangements with UP, but their process is sometimes slow,” Marsh said. “I don't want to get too excited but I am glad to see we are making some movements with UP.” The grant requires a 20 percent match of $180,000 from the city. CARTS agreed to pitch in $90,000, and Tuesday the TEDC agreed to give the city $50,000 to purchase the land from UP. Where the remaining $40,000 of the city's match will come from is still uncertain, though some of the match could come from the council waiving the required construction and appraisal fees. “First, I need to make sure that UP is willing to move forward (before asking the council). I had a good conversation but still no decision,” City Manager Frank Salvato said. “Hopefully we can come up with an agreement.” Years ago, CARTS paid an architect to design the building and Marsh said depending on inflation of construction fees, they plan to stick to the original design as much as possible. While the city would own the depot, CARTS would be in charge of operating and maintaining the facility. Marsh said he will ask for a 99-year lease on the building. Marsh said he envisions the project will have long-term positive effects for the city as the county grows. “We want to help do our part in moving development and improvements down to that part of town,” Marsh said. “Also, it would make riding the train ... and arriving in Taylor a little more pleasant.” Thinking long-term, Nelson said, building a newer terminal could benefit the city as Austin considers diverting freight traffic out of the city. While freight would still go through Taylor, Elgin and Bastrop, it would free up the current rail line from Taylor, Hutto and Round Rock and into Austin for commuter rail.
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