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Today, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced that the city of Madison’s high-speed rail station will be located at the Wisconsin Department of Administration building in downtown Madison.

“After further study, and after considering public input from workshops held earlier this month, the new rail station will be located at 101 E. Wilson St.,” Doyle said in a prepared statement. “We have been working with the community to make this a station everyone can be proud of and this location provides a good jumping off point for that discussion.”

Added Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz: “This location not only means a successful high speed rail line downtown, but it also means an exciting redevelopment of the surrounding blocks. This site brings tremendous potential for an intermodal station as well as economic development.”

About 200 people attended public workshops hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to discuss the station location. The workshops netted spirited, and at times contentious, debate. Citing public comments it has received to date, the governor’s office noted: “People are looking the station to provide good intermodal connections for buses, taxis, bicyclists, and pedestrians. People commenting also said that design of the station is important and the station design should focus on overall customer experience.”

So far, Wisconsin expects to receive $810 million to build high-speed passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison, $12 million to improve service between Chicago and Milwaukee, and $1 million to make final determinations on a route between Wisconsin and the Twin Cities — the next step toward connecting Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison with the Twin Cities.

Construction of the Madison-Milwaukee rail segment will begin this year, according to the statement.