Madison has an historic opportunity to transform both its metropolitan transportation infrastructure and its image statewide, with the addition of both a regional train depot on Fordem Avenue at East Johnson Street and a state Welcome Center on the parcels surrounded by East Johnson Street, First Street, East Washington Avenue and the Yahara River.

Regional trains, as a transportation mode, should be viewed as an alternative to auto or airline transportation and not a facilitator of it.  Train usage should, in its primary stages of design, focus on those individuals, who for economic reasons or environmentally conscious reasons would choose to commute by train provided such a reliable, convenient and efficient transportation option existed.

Funds made available through the Federal Economic Stimulus Program should not be viewed as a means to create airport transit corridors between cities for short-term economic stimulus, which would occur primarily during the rail construction period. Instead, rail transportation should be viewed as a way to bring individuals from their home city to other cities, so as to generate sustained economic activity between metropolitan areas.  Through the enhanced, regional mobility of individuals in their professional activity, tourist activity, consumer activity and personal activity, stimulus funds would fulfill the program’s directive by truly improving Wisconsin and Madison’s economic welfare and the quality of the lives of its citizens. 

A regional train depot within the central business district of Madison is the highest and best use of the Federal Economic Stimulus funds the state will procure.  A Fordem Avenue station could easily provide dedicated airport bus shuttle service to the Dane County Regional Airport (3.5mi) for those using regional train transport as a leg of a larger national or international travel schedule.  However, a station located centrally would service a much larger passenger audience than an airport station.  An airport station would, in the perception of residents, reduce the image of regional train service to simply a mode of connecting airline travelers to larger hubs.  Rather than standing as its own niche in the transportation infrastructure of Wisconsin, rail transit that only services the periphery of metropolitan areas would predestine itself to irrelevance and infrequent use.  Furthermore, an outlying regional rail station would only maintain or increase current automobile traffic levels, whereas a station in the CBD would be inclusive for ALL Madison residents and could potentially decrease automobile traffic both locally and regionally, while expanding economic opportunities for individuals who either cannot afford an automobile—with its associated expenses:  gas, insurance, licensing and maintenance—or for those who have been restricted from using an automobile for various medical and legal reasons.

Historically, trains have worked magic by maximizing the opportunity for urban exploration and regional social interaction.  Trains induce people to travel.  With elegant tranquility, trains draw the passenger though unfamiliar territory and gradually inform the passenger about the landscape and layout of the city.  At their destination, in the heart of the city, the passenger feels empowered to venture out and explore proximate points of interest.  A train that concludes its run before it enters the city, fails in its purpose to allow that essential introduction to occur between traveler and city.  Without an introduction, a relationship can never grow.  When a train passenger arrives at an airport, they remain a stranger to the city.  Conversely, a train restricted to a city’s airport ceases to be a force of urban transformation.

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Madison, as the capital city of Wisconsin, plays host to state residents and visitors traveling from all over the United States and around the world.  Yet, Madison with its great, innovative spirit, still lacks that ideal place from which it can really distinguish itself, while conveying the state’s culture and attributes to the guests it welcomes every day.  With the historic opportunity to bring regional train service right into the heart of downtown Madison, there could not be a better occasion for Madison to also build, adjacent to its new train station, an official Wisconsin Welcome Center.

The area indicated on the map (above left) would serve as an ideal location to build a Welcome Center.  Visitors arriving by the regional, high-speed train could enter the center from an enclosed, pedestrian walkway across East Johnson Street, connecting the center to the train station.  Visitors entering Madison on East Washington Avenue, would arrive at the Welcome Center just as the State Capitol comes into view.  A light rail train could connect the State Capitol and Monona Terrace to the Welcome Center, on tracks which already exist, and people could visit the Welcome Center by transport on the Yahara River.

A Wisconsin Welcome Center could serve as a place to house a state tourism office, an events space, a museum, a multimedia viewing space, shops, food outlets, a coffee house, an outdoor patio space, a light rail stop and a boat docking station.  Again, all of this would be connected to Madison’s Fordem Avenue regional, high-speed rail station by an enclosed, pedestrian walkway.

A Welcome Center would not only serve as a place to dispense information about Wisconsin and Madison, but it would serve as an instrument to strengthen the relationship between Madison and all state residents who reside outside of the capital city.  A Welcome Center would demonstrate the earnestness of Madisonians to share with their fellow state residents the culture and opportunities of Wisconsin’s capital city, that they enjoy every day.

The East Washington corridor, leading towards the State Capitol building is relatively featureless, despite the grand way it was designed to present the city’s most visible landmark.  A Welcome Center at the precise location outlined above would fill a void that the avenue almost naturally calls for.  A final suggestion, to really establish this project as a historic endeavor, would be to install a Memorial Gateway Arch across East Washington Avenue, at First Street, framing the distant Capitol building.  Such a monument would honor ALL Wisconsin residents who have given service to the state—not only veterans, police and firefighters, but ALL notable contributors to the establishment, building and continued growth of Wisconsin.  The Memorial Gateway Arch could contain a fiber optic light design, that would glow serenely at night, in perpetual remembrance of the people listed inside the Welcome Center, on a corresponding Memorial Wall.

Rotating historical exhibits, nature exhibits and shows featuring Wisconsin innovations, folkways, celebrations, industry, culture and progress would be the highlight of this Welcome Center.  Here, in a dynamic forum, people could experience ongoing opportunities to learn about and connect with their state.

Madison has gifted state residents with many surpassing public spaces throughout its history, from the State Capitol building, to the University, to Monona Terrace, Olbrich Gardens and the Overture Center.  A Wisconsin Welcome Center, adjacent to a regional, high-speed rail station would stand as the next great legacy for not only the city, but for all residents of Wisconsin.