Paoli in line for $80M transportation center
A new Paoli train and bus station, with a 600-space parking garage, will be built near the existing 60-year-old train station, if someone comes up with $80 million.
A new Paoli train and bus station, with a 600-space parking garage, will be built near the existing 60-year-old train station, if someone comes up with $80 million.
SEPTA and local government officials on Wednesday announced the selection of the preferred site for the new station, but SEPTA only has funding for design work.
That $7.5 million design plan will take about three years, said Robert Lund, SEPTA assistant general manager of engineering, maintenance and construction.
Construction of the station and related parking facilities would cost $50 million to $60 million, and replacement of the adjacent North Valley Road bridge with a new bridge on Darby Road would cost an additional $15 million to $20 million.
If the money were available, the bridge, station and other facilities could be built in about three years, Lund said.
But "construction is not yet a certainty," Lund said. "Funding is a major open question."
Tredyffrin Township manager William F. Martin said that "finding the funding will be the next phase, now that SEPTA is on board with the location." Martin said a new station would be "great for the region."
The site selected for the station is one of three that were considered. It would replace the small existing train station and inadequate parking lot that is a regular source of traffic congestion in Paoli.
The Paoli stop serves both SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale regional rail line and Amtrak's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg Keystone line. About 1300 passengers a day use the station, and many riders commute to nearby corporate centers such as Great Valley and Chesterbrook.
The proposed new station would be built on the site of existing station, with a pedestrian overpass to the rail platform on the opposite side of the tracks. A five-level, 600-space parking garage is planned for the area between Lancaster Avenue and an extension of Darby Road.
The new "Paoli Intermodal Transportation Center" would accommodate increasing numbers of rail passengers, SEPTA buses, corporate center shuttle buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians.
More information is available at www.paolionthemove.org
