Speaking of bad ideas, a recent Word on the Street article says that local officials are still pursuing the foolhardy idea of getting a commuter train to Bloomington instead of a direct Amtrak route to Chicago. Rather than re-explain in different words why this is such a bad idea, I’m just going to reprint [...]
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Of course the title of this post need not be an either/or question. But I pose the question that way because I want to draw some contrasts between the two projects. Peoria currently has four automobile bridges across the Illinois River (McClugage, Murray Baker, Bob Michel, and Cedar Street). Peoria does not currently have [...] Here we go again. The old Peoria-to-Bloomington commuter train idea is apparently still on the table over at the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Let’s go over this again: Nobody wants to take a train to Bloomington. The only reason anyone would ever take a train to Bloomington is to continue on to Chicago or [...] Right about the time I stopped blogging last year, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) released its “Feasibility Report of Proposed Amtrak Service” between Chicago and Peoria. So I’m five months late with my analysis. But then, IDOT was about three years late releasing the study. All you need to read to know that [...] The City has set its “top” and “high” strategic priorities at its latest planning session, reports the Journal Star: Of 27 possibilities, the council labeled only six policy priorities as “top” priorities for 2011-12. Those included focusing on code enforcement performance and direction, developing a school strategy and action plan, focusing on short-term shared [...] Scanning over the Journal Star this morning, there are several interesting articles: Transportation Symposium — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had some words of wisdom for Peoria about the possibility of getting passenger rail service: “Get your act together…. Get your priorities. Put them on a list. Agree on them,” he said. “Make sure your [...] Since 2007, Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation have been studying the feasibility of reestablishing a Peoria-Chicago passenger rail route, but completion of the study has been delayed multiple times. IDOT Bureau Chief of Railroads George Weber now estimates the report will be released in late summer or early fall of 2011. [...] Richard Neumiller, former mayor of Peoria and member of the now defunct railroad commission, is on a new passenger rail task force put together by the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC). Neumiller was appointed by Mayor Jim Ardis to represent Peoria on the task force. Here is the full list of task force members, [...] The Journal Star reports (no link — it’s a “First in Print” article) that a new passenger rail advisory group has been formed: A 21-member committee formed of local government officials and appointees from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, it set priorities in its first couple of meetings. In the long run, the goal [...] As you may have read in today’s Journal Star, I’ve started a grassroots organization for the purpose of advocating for passenger rail service between Peoria and Chicago. It’s called the Peoria Passenger Rail Coalition, and it’s free to join. I talk to a lot of people who would like to have train service [...] |
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