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Illinois' high-speed rail hopes raised
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Nov 13, 2010 12:23am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Rockford Register Star |
| News Date | Friday, November 12, 2010 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Brian Leaf
BUSINESSROCKFORD.COM
Posted Nov 11, 2010 @ 05:40 PM
Last update Nov 12, 2010 @ 01:41 PM
ROCKFORD — The election may stop a high-speed rail project between Milwaukee and Madison, Wis., in its tracks, and it may derail a project in Iowa, too.
But it also has bolstered regional hopes for high-speed rail service through northern Illinois.
Steve Ernst, executive director of the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning, said the $810 million Wisconsin project that Gov.-elect Scott Walker pledged to kill if elected is part of a broader plan to link Chicago and Minneapolis with high-speed rail.
Ernst says if Walker pulls Wisconsin, a route from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa, to Minneapolis becomes more attractive.
“We would love to be in a position to be an alternate route, and to be in a position for true high-speed rail,” Ernst said.
Rockford already fits into Illinois’ rail plans. Transportation officials are expected to announce before Thanksgiving whether a Chicago-to-Rockford-to-Dubuque route will go through Belvidere or Genoa.
That $60 million project is part of the state’s Capital Improvement Program passed last year by the state Legislature.
But the state’s plan for Chicago to Dubuque is for conventional passenger service with a maximum speed of 79 mph. If it became part of a federal high-speed rail initiative like the Wisconsin project, speeds could reach 110 mph or more between stops.
Ernst said some planning for the Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque route has been done, which could make it attractive should unused money from other states be available. Newly elected Republican governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa are among those who want to use money for highways, not railroads. |
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