BUILD Grant
The City of Carbondale, Illinois submitted an application for a BUILD Grant in the amount of $14.64 million for the construction of a new multimodal transportation center, referred to as Carbondale Station.
About the Station
The proposed station is located along the existing Amtrak route which includes daily passenger trains that connect Carbondale with Chicago, and Carbondale with New Orleans as well as stations in between. Safe, reliable, and affordable transportation drives economic development and enhances the quality of life for communities and its residents.
A well-planned and well-connected multimodal transportation network offers multiple transportation options to accommodate transportation users to meet their needs. By providing a central hub where all transportation modes connect, such as Carbondale Station, transportation users not only have access to the various modes of transportation but they also have flexibility for their trips, connectivity, accessibility, and reliability in one convenient location.
Carbondale Station will connect people from all walks of life – students, business professionals, tourists, elderly, economically disadvantaged, and disabled persons - to local, regional, and national destinations to meet their needs. Carbondale, and Southern Illinois, has a need to improve their access to transportation, drive revitalization and economic development, create jobs, and improve the quality of life for residents of the region.
Ladders of Opportunity Project
Jackson County has the highest poverty rate in Illinois. Carbondale Station will connect the existing transportation services in Downtown Carbondale as well as adding new mass transit services to meet the needs of its residents and enhance connectivity.
The proposed Carbondale Station project is a true Ladders of Opportunity project. It will create work opportunities through its construction for contractors, small businesses, and disadvantaged contractors in an economically disadvantaged region. When it is completed, the station will connect people with multiple transportation choices at a single location in Downtown Carbondale. Carbondale Station is one of the key catalysts to spur revitalization in Downtown Carbondale and is included in the recently adopted Downtown Master Plan and the Southern Illinois Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (SIMPO) long range transportation plan.
The proposed transportation center will replace an aging, deteriorating, and functionally obsolete station in Downtown Carbondale and will create a true multimodal center. The new station will bring together multiple modes of transportation in one safe, efficient, and convenient location. Amtrak passenger trains, Greyhound buses, Saluki Express Mass Transit, Jackson County Mass Transit (JCMTD), RIDES Mass Transit (RMT), South Central Illinois Transit (SCT), Shawnee Mass Transit, taxis, pedestrians, bicycles, and inter-city buses will be located within the transportation center and patrons will be able to seamlessly connect to other modes of transportation. The mass transit districts will connect riders with educational, employment, medical, retail, and recreational opportunities throughout Carbondale, Jackson County, and the greater Southern Illinois region, including the Southern Illinois Airport.