People in or near Mount Joy "are telling us they want this," Mark Hiester said, glancing around at the now-quiet spot down below the heart of his town.
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But that spot, Mount Joy's train station, isn't quiet very often.
Dozens of trains come and go each week, most of them crowded with passengers. And more people are getting on and off the trains in Mount Joy.
The station is seeing its ridership totals skyrocket, and as the number of riders continues to grow, local officials like borough manager Hiester, his predecessor, Terry Kauffman, and Main Street Mount Joy manager Stacy Rutherford hope to make the station even more of a town hub.
State transportation officials have notified Mount Joy that a proposal to make the train platform handicapped-accessible has been moved forward on the state's funding schedule, and could begin this fall.
The Mount Joy station, which actually is more of a platform, is down some steps at East Henry and North Market streets, just a block off Main Street (Route 230).
The good news for Mount Joy comes as train ridership at the three main stations here, in Lancaster, Elizabethtown and Mount Joy, continues to grow.
The Lancaster Amtrak station on McGovern Avenue is the third-busiest station in the state, while Elizabethtown is the sixth-busiest and Mount Joy's is number eight, out of the 24 stations in Pennsylvania.
For the 2007-08 fiscal year, the Mount Joy station had 53,828 riders, up 17 percent from the previous year's 46,109.
The Lancaster station had 484,102 riders in 2007-08 (up 63,578. or 15 percent), while E-town had 90,644 riders, a whopping 22 percent jump).
With gas prices rising and the much-publicized economic slump on people's minds, people are riding trains more than they did a few years ago, and "PennDOT is seeing the need to do these stations sooner," as Hiester said.
Added Kauffman, former borough manager and Lancaster County commissioner, who's now the borough's special projects manager, "I don't think there's any question that our community embraces the train station."
Rutherford, who's in charge of boosting both Mount Joy's main business district and citizen awareness of the town, noted that the borough "is very fortunate to have this train station located within the downtown.
"The question is, how can we maximize this asset, and better connect the riders to what the downtown has to offer?
"Because we have some great independently-owned restaurants, and with the retail that is surrounding them, we are excited about this opportunity" with the train station, she said.
Planned projects at the other two stations, in Lancaster and E-town, have been heavily publicized in recent years.
The winning bid could be awarded soon for the project at the E-town station, with groundbreaking possible by late summer, officials have said.
Various improvements, including elevators and larger platforms, are to be completed in E-town's year-plus project.
Meanwhile, the Lancaster station is about to break ground on its $12 million upgrade, which will include a new bus terminal, extra parking spaces, new shops, air conditioning and an overall face-lift.
In Mount Joy, the renovations include making the platform compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and are expected to be done by 2011.
The renovations call for a new 500-foot platform and a "walkover" that would allow riders to go from the parking area to a new ramp and stairs.
The final project cost is expected to be anywhere from $3 million to $3.5 million, with federal funds to cover 80 percent, the state 16 percent and Mount Joy the other 3-plus percent, or only some $68,000 from the borough's capital reserve funds.
Even before the last two years, ridership to and from the Mount Joy station had been increasing steadily for several years.
One recent report on train ridership states that "the state's investment in the (cross-Pennsylvania) Keystone Corridor is delivering strong returns for the state."
And, depending on the specific final design of their project, Mount Joy officials could still save a large amount of its final cost, officials said.
Borough officials have asked those from the county, including the county transportation authority, to help facilitate the new overall project.
Staff writer David O'Connor can be reached at doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033.
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