Pontiac Transportation Terminal
Spalding DeDecker provided civil site design for the new intermodal transportation terminal on Woodward Avenue in the City of Pontiac. The design of site access, drives, parking, and building was extremely challenging due to the following critical design factors:
- Maintenance of the existing rail and bus service during all phases of construction
- Demolition of an existing tunnel immediately adjacent to the tracks and below the proposed building
- Determination of site and building geometry relative to street location, slope, and existing adjacent streets and curb cuts
- Limited record information for rights-of-way, utility records, and previous site demolition
- Coordination of interests and rights-of-way between Greyhound, Amtrak, the State of Michigan Dept. of Technology, Management & Budget, Michigan Department of Transportation, and the Bureau of Passenger Transportation
- Incorporation of sustainable design, security, and enhancement of the community
- Allowance for potential future expansion of both site and building facilities
Our goal was to provide a fully functioning site to meet the needs of the owner, Amtrak and Greyhound. Communication was the key as the site had many unknowns relative to previous site demolition, utility locations, and structural data on the existing tunnel that was to be demolished.
Demolition of the existing tunnel adjacent to the active rail and passenger boarding platform presented unique challenges but was completed without consequence to the rail operations, adjacent site infrastructure, and construction safety. Critical Transportation Design Standards were considered and integrated into the design including considerations for boarding and deboarding requirements conforming to the Americans with Disabilities Act, efficient ingress & egress of arriving and departing buses, and protection of the building and patrons.
