By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Amtrak passengers using the Salisbury depot now have an almost million-dollar canopy to give them shelter while getting on and off the trains.
Ike’s Construction has completed work on the 325-foot-long platform running parallel to the tracks at the Salisbury station.
The covered portion of the platform extends from the depot’s breezeway, past the Amtrak waiting area and about half the distance of a parking lot on the northern side of the station.
Construction began late this past winter on the $928,031 project, which also includes a covered portion from the platform back to the depot’s breezeway.
The new construction features a terra cotta roof like the historic 1908 depot. In all, the project covered some 5,000 square feet of area.
The Amtrak station is located at Salisbury Station’s northern end. Daily north-south passenger trains make stops in Salisbury.
Planning for the new platform started at least three years ago and had to bring together the North Carolina Railroad, N.C. Department of Transportation, the city of Salisbury and Historic Salisbury Foundation, which owns the depot.The state DOT put up 90 percent of the funding; the city, 10 percent.
After the construction contract was awarded in July 2008, the start of construction was delayed as the various parties worked out insurance questions and license/easement agreements.
The platform is similar to one at the High Point depot.
Workers took advantage of spring-like temperatures the past two days to erect components of the steel skeleton.