RI County amps up fight to bring passenger rail to QC

The Rock Island County Board emphasized its unanimous support of passenger rail service to the Quad Cities this week by inking a resolution outlining the benefits to the region from the long-sought route between Chicago and Moline. “We felt it was the right time to reiterate our support, adding our voice to the chorus of […]

The Rock Island County Board emphasized its unanimous support of passenger rail service to the Quad Cities this week by inking a resolution outlining the benefits to the region from the long-sought route between Chicago and Moline. “We felt it was the right time to reiterate our support, adding our voice to the chorus of voices in  the Quad Cities region who want to see passenger rail transformed from a vision to a reality,”  County Board Chairman Richard “Quijas” Brunk said of the board’s Tuesday, April 15 vote.

''Mr. Brunk also highlighted in a Wednesday, April 16 news release the hard work that has already been done by passenger rail advocates.  “For approximately 15 years, community leaders, the City of Moline and other local governments, Quad Cities area legislators, MetroLINK, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and many others have been advocating to make this happen,” he said. “We wanted to voice our continued support, and highlight many of the benefits to our region.”  On Thursday, April 10, acting Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi told a large crowd at the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal’s second annual Transportation & Infrastructure Seminar that IDOT remains committed to doing what it needs to do to help make the Quad Cities to Chicago route a reality. Rock Island County Board Member Porter McNeil added in the release “The resolution outlines the big pluses of passenger rail – the regional economic development, the boost in tourism for the Quad Cities, the connection to Chicago for entrepreneurs, and access to affordable transportation for all.”  Mr. McNeil, who represents District 6, said the board’s resolution comes at a good time.

IDOT is all board

 “A week ago, the Illinois acting Secretary of Transportation encouraged all of us to publicly support the passenger rail investment,” he added. “This is an exciting, once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Quad Cities and the entire region.”

Among the benefits the resolution spotlights are the $250 million impact over 10 years and the 825 regional jobs that would be created by the service according to the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative. In addition, the resolution said “the benefits go beyond the new jobs created and the regional economic boost. With regional companies that connect to the global economy, rail can help address their ongoing needs and the regional workforce will benefit from increased connections to Chicago and the opportunities offered by that global economic region.” The county’s document also says “the region's tourism officials would see new faces arriving – people who want to visit one of our colleges or universities, witness the world's fourth largest river, experience one of our many beautiful parks, attend a baseball game at America's top-ranked Minor League Baseball park, tour the world headquarters of Deere & Co., attend one of the dozens of summer and fall festivals and events in the Quad Cities and our surrounding communities – and more.” The county said it is sending copies of the county board resolution to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, members of the Illinois General Assembly, and other regional stakeholders. The timing of the resolution is important as lawmakers grapple with AMTRAK’s request for billions of dollars to shore up the financially troubled metropolitan mass transit system.

New momentum for fight

On Monday, March 3, Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati, whose city built The Q train station to serve the promised new routes; Illinois State Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island; and Illinois State Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline; and the Quad Cities Chamber held a news conference to share new momentum in the battle. They shared two alternate routes suggested by the Illinois DOT that could replace the locally preferred route that would go from Chicago to Moline via Wyanet, Illinois, on the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The railroad has, so far, derailed the project by refusing to join the effort to make the track upgrades necessary to make the route a reality, leaders said.  The proposed alternative routes would run from Chicago via the existing Galesburg passenger rail track. One route to Moline would go by way of nearby Barstow and the other via nearby Colona. The challenge for those alternatives, Mr. Halpin said, would be whether the longer travel distances they require will be affordable and timesaving compared to driving. Chamber President and CEO Peter Tokar III added “This spring, the Chicago Transit system is requiring over a billion dollars in subsidies and support through the Illinois Legislature. We believe the only way downstate communities can reasonably support this request for funding is with the inclusion of that funding plan to support downstate projects in Illinois.” Mr. Johnson vowed “I am here today to make one thing crystal clear: I will not support any transit package this year that does not include dedicated passenger rail service from Chicago to the Quad Cities. This package has been delayed for far too long and our communities cannot afford to wait any longer.”