All posts by C. J. Summers

I am a fourth-generation Peorian, married with three children.
City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan

Community Planning workshops open to public

The Heart of Peoria Commission wants to “educate and inform people of what form-based codes can do for a community.” Here’s part of an e-mail I received from the city’s Planning & Growth Management Department:

Attached is the invitation for the upcoming Form-based Code Workshops. The neighborhood groups are invited to the workshop scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2005, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Civic Center, Rooms 220-221. . . . Our intent and goal is to educate and inform people of what form-based codes can do for a community. In order to do that, we need to invite as many people as possible.

Please RSVP Gene Lear at 494-8604 or glear@ci.peoria.il.us.

The “invitation” spoken of was a PDF attachment you can see here.

Kellar Branch

Trail use exaggerated

In July, the Journal Star had this to say about plans to convert the Kellar Branch rail line to a bike trail:

By conservative estimates, the Kellar Branch would attract at least 2,500 hikers, bikers, runners and walkers a week.

At least 2,500 hikers, bikers, runners and walkers a week! I don’t know where they got those numbers, but one would imagine they based them at least in part on current trail use. So imagine my surprise when I read this letter to the editor today:

Peoria’s riverfront path empty
Thursday, October 13, 2005

Many people are missing out on one of Peoria’s best features, the walking and biking path along the riverfront in Downtown Peoria. I’ve used the path since it opened and often I’m walking alone, with only an occasional jogger passing me by.

The views of the Illinois River and the boats and barges sailing by, the wooded path with stretches of prairie, the many animals one sees along the walk and the beautiful urban views of the bridge and the Downtown buildings are special. This is a true gem right in the middle of an urban center. Too bad more Peorians don’t enjoy it.

Harry Gunn
Peoria

How is that possible? Where are the crowds? At 2,500 people per week, that’s 357 people per day. Even if those people were evenly distributed over 24 hours a day, Mr. Gunn should be passing about 15 people every hour!

I think it’s just more evidence that trail usage numbers are exaggerated.

City of Peoria

Peoria 1977

I have here Peoria’s City Directory from 1977 (don’t ask me why), and I thought you might enjoy some of the descriptions and predictions of Peoria from 28 years ago:

Population: 134,000
Area: 40 square miles
Parks: 7,000 acres
Airport: City is served by Ozark Air Lines, Continental Airlines, and chartered service by Byerly Aviation Company.
“By number of employees, Peoria’s five major industries are the Caterpillar Tractor Co., Pabst Brewing Co., Westinghouse Air Brake Co., Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc., and Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc.

“Peoria Water Co., in 1976 completed a $3.7 million addition to its Illinois River station that will increase water production capacity by 10 million gallons per day.

“Illinois Bell Telephone Co., in late 1977, will be installing a traffic service position system (T.S.P.S.) which is an electronic computer like system for handling long distance calls.”

And downtown was a hot topic then like it is today:

Vision of Future Peoria in 1977

Peoria is looking to the future with a comprehensive plan to redevelop the Central Business District. The distinguished Washington (D. C.) architect and urban designer, Angelos C. Demetriou, AIA, was hired to create a downtown plan for Peoria and do a feasibility study of its long cherished dream of a Civic Center. The Demetriou Plan for downtown Peoria revolves around two key concepts: the mini-mall to spark retail shopping and the development of the riverfront to attract a 24-hour a day lifestyle in the Central Business District.

The Downtown Plan, developed by a team of consultants led by Angelos Demetriou, is tailored for Peoria. The document begins by building on the existing strengths largely provided by the over $70 million in downtown investment which occurred over the past 15 years. Integrated with the results of those 15 years of accomplishment are new projects which will broaden downtown’s base and which will make it possible to reach new potential for growth identified in the Plan.

The Plan outlines several major elements of change for the downtown.

They include: Housing about 2,550 units downtown; a civic center complex serving three important functions: a convention-oriented exposition hall with 20,000 sq. ft., an auditorium for the performing arts, and a sports arena-assembly hall. Also, new hotels to support the civic center; an enclosed shopping mall to strengthen the retail core; new offices for government, large firms and general occupancy; extensive beautification and improvement of riverfront; and convention parking which is so essential to downtown revitalization.

Considerable activity is underway for implementing the Plan.

The $6.4 million Peoria School of Medicine was opened in 1976 and its medical students are now undergoing training at the various hospital complexes located in the Peoria area.

Downtown received another boost when Cohen Furniture Company completed a major renovation of the “flagship” store at Harrison and Adams.

Final construction drawings are being prepared for the open air plaza on Fulton, between Jefferson and Adams, and renovation of the existing Jefferson Building in downtown Peoria. The plaza would connect the civic center activities in the “superblock” with the enclosed shopping mall between Bergner’s and Sears. The City has not yet proposed a financial plan to pay for this improvement. However, with a feasible financial plan, the project could move very quickly.

The county and city are negotiating for a new city-county administration building. The building would be located at Hamilton, between Adams and Jefferson, across from the Courthouse Plaza. The city has allocated revenue sharing funds toward the project and acquiring the property for the development.

The Peoria Downtown Development Council has been working closely with the City of Peoria and the U. S. Postal Service in the location of a regional Post Office in Peoria. The building will be constructed on about 10 acres of large blighted property on the southern edge of downtown. Also, the city and county have been discussing the issue of building a new jail. The site has not been finalized, however, it will be a common shared facility of the county and city.

These public projects will offer important contributions to downtown and help created the needed environment for major private investments to occur.

Well, that certainly sounds exciting, doesn’t it! It’s not quite the same as DPZ’s Heart of Peoria Plan, but there are a few overlaps: they both agree that retail is vital to downtown (Demetriou recommended building a mini-mall downtown; DPZ said the Shoppes at Grand Prairie should have been built downtown), that there should be more housing options downtown so people can live there, and that your downtown should “attract a 24-hour a day lifestyle.”

I’m actually quite amazed at how much of Demetriou’s plan was realized. The civic center was the biggest thing, of course. Unfortunately, the biggest departure from this plan is the retail aspect. In 1977 there were still several department stores downtown: Bergners, Sears, Sparr, Szolds, and Woolworth. Not only did Demetriou’s mini-mall idea never materialize, but the existing retail stores disappeared as well.

This does answer one question I’ve had for a long time: what was the purpose of Fulton Plaza? It was to connect the Civic Center to the retail shopping “superblock.” Now that Bergners has been replaced with One Technology Parking Deck and the other stores are gone, one wonders why we don’t tear the plaza out and make Fulton a through street again.

In 2033, when we look back at the Heart of Peoria Plan and Vision 2020, I wonder which things will have been implemented and which ones will have fallen by the wayside. I have a feeling there still won’t be any retail downtown, and we’ll probably have hired a new consultant to tell us pretty much the same thing the last two have told us….

Kellar Branch

Don’t ever say I don’t admit when I’m wrong

 

Upon further review, I’m going to do an about-face on my earlier comments about Pioneer Railcorp’s chances of winning their attempt to purchase the Kellar Branch. 
Apparently, if I’ve read some other Surface Transportation Board (STB) rulings correctly (and, seriously, who knows if I have?), an “offer of financial assistance,” or “OFA,” can be made in a discontinuance case only if the purpose is to subsidize the current carrier, not to purchase the line.  What that means is Pioneer will most likely lose their attempt to purchase the Kellar Branch, and, depending on how quickly the STB moves, we’ll probably be seeing a trail in the making as early as this fall.
The bad news is, while other communities create industrial parks with rail service from scratch and attract higher-paying industrial jobs to their cities, Peoria will tear out its rail service and probably fill up its “industrial park” with lower-paying retail jobs. 
But the good news is, we‘ll have the most precious commodity any community can ever have — one, without which, the future of our city would be bleak at best — an asset that will draw hundreds of new residents and attract millions in tourist dollars — a natural resource that will catapult us into financial independence and superior health:  a hiking and biking trail.  Lord knows how this city has survived for 161 years without it.

 

Kellar Branch

Boiled Down

 

I was going to respond to this in the previous post’s comments section, but I thought it deserved its own blog entry.  I received this fair criticism of my last entry from an anonymous commenter:
I don’t think you’ve received any comments yet because this blog is opaque. Please boil this down to something the average interested person can understand.

I still think you’re off base for wanting to keep Brenkman in business at the expense of a good trail through a town that is seriously under-trailed. Your proposal to route the trail along and through Detweiler doesn’t keep the trail close to PEOPLE. I don’t want to have to put my bike in may car to get to a TRAIL!

First, I admit the last entry was pretty arcane, so let me attempt to “boil it down,” as requested:
Pioneer wants to buy the Kellar Branch line from the city.  The city doesn’t want to sell it because they want to tear it out and turn it into a hiking/biking trail.  However, there’s a possibility that Pioneer can force the city to sell the line against its will by going through the Surface Transportation Board (STB).  The STB has sole control over the railroad right of way; even though the city owns the line, they can’t just do with it what they want.  They would need to get STB approval to stop running trains over it and turn it into a trail.  However, the STB, as a rule, leans toward keeping rail service in place if there’s a carrier willing to service the line.  In fact, that’s why they allow forced acquisition of rail lines to begin with — to keep the trains running.
So, the city (or technically, their contracted rail carrier, Central Illinois Railway) has sent notice to the STB asking if they can discontinue service on the Kellar Branch.  Pioneer has sent notice to the STB that they want to buy it.  The city is trying to rebuff Pioneer’s offer by saying the Kellar Branch was abandoned in the early 80’s (which is true) and claiming Pioneer can’t offer to buy the line under these circumstances (which I think is false).  The upshot is that this will likely be another drawn-out case before the STB, and there’s a chance that Pioneer might win this one.
Secondly, I never said I was for “keep[ing] Brenkman in business.”  I’m simply for keeping the Kellar Branch a rail line for a variety of reasons you can read about in a previous blog entry.  
Finally, I love this final comment: “I don’t want to have to put my bike in [my] car to get to a TRAIL!”  And yet the Park District would have us believe that people will flock to Peoria to use our trails and have a huge economic impact.  Here’s someone who says they won’t even drive across town to use the trail — they’ll only use it if it’s in their back yard!  So much for all those tourism dollars from trail enthusiasts.  Ha!

 

Kellar Branch

Pioneer trying to force sale of Kellar Branch (told ya!)

Today, Central Illinois Railway (CIRY) filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to abandon the Kellar Branch line. And today, Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) filed with the STB to purchase the Kellar Branch. Just as I predicted.

As you may recall from my previous post, “Congress and the STB have adopted procedures that make it possible to force the sale or subsidy of lines slated for abandonment,” “to encourage continued service.” The procedure for forcing a sale or subsidy is to file an “offer of financial assistance,” or “OFA.” Under this procedure, “any financially responsible party seeking to continue service on a line approved for abandonment (or exempted) may compel the railroad to sell or conduct subsidized operations over the line,” according to the STB website. That’s what Pioneer is trying to do.

The city, of course, doesn’t want that to happen. So, CIRY is trying to side-step Pioneer’s purchase request. This gets a little technical, so I apologize in advance. The legal maneuver is this: citing the STB’s ruling in City of Rochelle, Illinois — Adverse Discontinuance — Rochelle Railroad Company (5/27/1999), CIRY claims that Offers of Financial Assistance (the procedure for forcing sale of the line) need not be entertained because this is not an abandonment, but a discontinuance proceeding. The line was formally abandoned when the Rock Island line went belly up back in the early ’80s. If the STB buys this line of argument, then Pioneer can’t file and OFA, and the discontinuance will sail through unopposed.

However, I read this ruling, and it doesn’t say what CIRY and the city want it to say. First of all, in Rochelle, they weren’t asking to completely discontinue service and tear out the tracks. They were essentially asking the board to replace operators — i.e., replace Rochelle Railroad Company with a city contractor — just like when Peoria wanted to replace Pioneer with CIRY. What the board actually said in that case was, “offers of financial assistance will not be entertained in this proceeding, because the City is continuing to provide rail service over the line” (emphasis mine). In other words, they didn’t rule out a forced sale because it was a discontinuance proceeding, but because the city was still providing service over the line in question. Here in Peoria, that condition does not exist. The city wants to permanently discontinue service by any and all carriers.

Furthermore, it is clear from other filings that the STB accepts — even expects — Offers of Financial Assistance in discontinuance cases, not just abandonment cases as CIRY asserts. For instance, one need look no further than a case CIRY cites in their own filing: Norfolk Southern Railway Company — Discontinuance of Service — in Sumpter County, SC (8/30/2005). In that case, the board said:

Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of financial assistance (OFA) has been received, this exemption will be effective on September 29, 2005, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay and formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFS 1152.27(c)(2), must be filed by September 9, 2005.

Now, why would they provide a deadline for filing an OFA if they disallow OFAs in discontinuance proceedings? I don’t think CIRY is going to win that one. But, by fighting it, they will continue to delay the proceeding. I’m not saying that Pioneer will prevail in forcing a sale of the line, but I am saying that the CIRY and the city will probably have to go through the OFA process, which will delay the Park District’s plans again. If they haven’t already, the Park District better start filing for another extension on their grant money.

This Kellar Branch saga is kinda like watching a chess match, isn’t it?

Kellar Branch

Predictions for Kellar Branch dispute

 

Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY), the City of Peoria, and Central Illinois Railway (CIRY) have come to an agreement — which I believe is the proverbial “calm before the storm.”  A letter dated September 8, 2005, from Pioneer’s general counsel to the Surface Transportation Board states:
Pioneer Industrial Railway Co. (“PIRY”) received Central Illinois Railroad Company’s Reply to Petition to Reopen for Immediate Modification or Clarification, today. PIRY is willing to accept the assurances of CIRY that “the Municipalities will not remove that segment until CIRY’s authority over that segment has been discontinued in an effective Board decision,” and the “CIRY has informed the Municipalities that CIRY will initiate proceedings for discontinuance of its rail service over that segment.” Based upon those representations, PIRY respectfully requests that its Petition be held in abeyance, pending the State Court proceedings referenced therein (LaSalle County Illinois Circuit Court No. 05-L-146) and CIRY’s anticipated abandonment filing.
Basically, PIRY had asked the STB to clarify that the Kellar Branch was not to be torn out until (a) CIRY had filed for and been approved to abandon the line, and (b) Pioneer’s court case against the city was decided in favor of the city.  The city responded that it had no intention of tearing out the tracks at least until CIRY received STB permission to abandon the line.  That seemed to satisfy Pioneer for the time being.
Most likely scenario, in my opinion:  CIRY will apply for abandonment under an “individual exemption,” telling the STB that no shipper in Pioneer Park will be affected because they will continue to receive service over the new UP spur from the west.  Furthermore, no complaint is likely to be filed by Carver Lumber; they have maintained neutrality throughout these proceedings. 
However, PIRY will most likely contest the abandonment and try to force a sale of the Kellar Branch line.  According to the STB, “To encourage continued service, Congress and the STB have adopted procedures that make it possible to force the sale or subsidy of lines slated for abandonment.”  If PIRY takes this course and prevails, the city would have to sell the rail line to Pioneer under terms imposed by the STB.
Whether or not Pioneer succeeds, the Park District’s plan to convert the Kellar Branch to a trail will be further delayed.  One wonders why they don’t just choose an alternative corridor and be done with it.  Wouldn’t it be just as easy to get a grant to run the trail east along Detweiller Drive, through Detweiller Park, then south along the riverfront to hook up with the Pimiteoui Trail?  They could undoubtedly get it done much quicker than through the Kellar Branch corridor.  Is their primary goal to connect the trail or win the fight with Pioneer? 
There’s no doubt that selling the branch to Pioneer would be most advantageous for the city.  The city would be free from the liability for the tracks and have a nice influx of cash (Pioneer has offered $565,000 for the line not too long ago).  That money could be used to help pay for the failed water buyout costs, or any number of underfunded city programs.  Plus, instead of being so adversarial to Pioneer, it could work with them to bring new light industry to Growth Cell Two.  Now that would be a “win-win.”  More business for Pioneer to serve, and more good-paying jobs for Peorians. 
I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating:  trails don’t bring new residents to Peoria; good jobs and good schools bring new residents to Peoria.  Parks projects are important, but who’s going to be around to enjoy them if we don’t improve the jobs and school situation here?

 

Kellar Branch

Official runaway train report incredible

The Journal Star reported on the runaway train today, a full five days after the incident occurred:
Runaway locomotive injures rail worker

PEORIA — An employee of Central Illinois Railway suffered minor injuries Saturday after he jumped from a shuttle locomotive that was out of control shortly before it crashed into three train cars, police said.

Thomas Stower, 64, of Peoria suffered abrasions but declined medical treatment, police said.

Allen Brown, the field operations manager for the railroad, told police the accident happened about 7:40 p.m. as he, Stower and two other employees were trying to move two rail cars loaded with lumber from near Caroline Street to Carver Lumber, 8700 N. University St.

The employees were using a shuttle locomotive that has less power than a regular locomotive because the regular locomotive was on a section of track that couldn’t be reached.  They got as far as Vine Street and decided the track wasn’t passable because of weeds growing across the tracks. 

They decided to back the locomotive down the track, and three of the employees went to train crossings to make sure no cars were crossing the tracks as the train was in reverse, police said.

Stower remained on the shuttle locomotive, but it started going too fast and the wheels locked up. He put on the emergency brake, but the train remained out of control. Stower jumped off the moving train after it crossed Adams Street, and it continued south, hitting three train cars that were parked on the tracks.

The accident didn’t damage the cars or the lumber but caused about $5,000 damage to the rail bed, police said.

This is basically a recap of the police report that was filed on the incident with no independent investigative reporting. There are several questionable items.

First, an eye-witness only saw two crew members on the train going up the line, not four. So that’s a bit fishy.

Second, the police report says that rail workers checked the line first with a Ford Bronco equipped to run on rails and deemed the track safe. (This was not reported by the Journal Star.) So why did they only notice the treacherous weeds when they took the train up the line?  Did the weeds grow over the tracks suddenly?  And since when do a few weeds render a track impassable?  This is a spurious excuse.

Third, the “regular locomotive” that couldn’t be reached is the one that’s on the western spur that apparently isn’t yet connected to the Kellar Branch. I thought this was supposed to be completed by now since Pioneer moved it’s cars and vacated the line. I wonder what the holdup is.

Fourth, this bit of fiction: “three of the employees went to train crossings to make sure no cars were crossing the tracks as the train was in reverse.” The crossings have signals, so if the train is going at a reasonable speed, there is no need for workers to go to the train crossings to warn cars of oncoming train traffic — unless the train is out of control. But when the train went out of control it started barrelling along at 30 miles per hour! Between Vine Street and Caroline, there are seven grade crossings. Are we to believe that three workers ran ahead of a runaway train going 30 mph and kept automobiles off of seven crossings?  Sign them up for the Olympics!

Fifth, regarding the wheels locking up and the emergency brake not working: railroad cars are equipped with air brakes which are powered by the locomotive. The experts I’ve consulted all say that if the air brakes were properly connected and tested, this train would have been able to stop. It sounds the air brakes were not hooked up, or not hooked up properly, and they were trying to stop two loaded train cars using only the brakes of the trackmobile (“shuttle locomotive”). Thus, the trackmoblile was dragged down the line with the cars — across seven grade crossings where they could have hit and even killed people driving through Peoria.

Now, just imagine for a moment that Pioneer did something boneheaded like this and caused a major public safety problem.  Do you think it would have been swept under the rug by the city and underreported in the Journal Star?  Nah.  More likely, it would have been on the front page of the Sunday paper and a vitriolic editorial would have appeared by Tuesday, complete with quotes from the director of public works decrying the railroad’s safety violations.

Kellar Branch

We can look back and laugh now….

 

Without deemphasizing the major public safety problem with CIRY (see previous post), I have to tell you that the scene is actually a bit comical. 
Here’s a quote from an eye-witness (all grammatical/spelling/punctuation errors are the witness’s):
my parents live next to the keller branch on rock island. saturday i was there visiting sitting in the back yard and saw the trackmobile(with 2 crew members) heading to carver lumber with the centerbeam and one boxcar.it sounded like it was working hard just to reach park street.after about 15 to 20 minutes i heard a rummbeling noise so i went to the alley and saw the two cars heading back at a high rate of speed, when it went by at around 30 to 40 mph and only 1 crew member i knew something was wrong. when it was out of my site i was still able to hear it,within a minute i heard aloud bang.while standing in the alley discussing what just happend, i looked up the tracks and saw a man limping badly towards mh equipment.since i was parked in the alley i drove up and meet him at park st. to my surprise he wasnt hurt but handicaped so i picked him up and took him back to caroline st where it had slammed into the parked cars that were left behind.it appears the engineer bailed out near madison and abington.i never heard it blow its horn at any point during the runnaway, luckly it crossed adams and jefferson without hitting anyone or anybody getting hurt. when it hit all the equipment stayed upright but damaged and derailed, the tracks receiving the most damage.
[The witness provided this additional information later:]
when i saw the runnaway the 2 cars were dragging the trackmobile with them. I noticed a week ago the swither was sitting next to the old I.P. plant near industrial drive, barely visible through the bushes.
Ha ha ha!  This is like something you would see on an old comedy reel!  Train cars rolling backwards down a hill, dragging the “engine” with them!  All this scene needs is Snidely Whiplash tying Belle to the tracks somewhere near Park Street where the train finally lost traction and slid backwards.
The silly thing is that CIRY actually does have an engine — sitting up at the old International Paper plant near Industrial Drive.  Why didn’t they use it?  Why would they even attempt to pull loaded cars up the Kellar Branch with a trackmobile?  The lack of judgement here is astounding.

 

Kellar Branch

City’s new Kellar Branch shipper derails

The city’s new railroad company, Central Illinois Railway (CIRY), found out the hard way that you need more than a trackmobile to get a load of lumber up the Kellar Branch.

I heard from a source who will remain anonymous that CIRY tried pulling two cars up the Kellar Branch’s steep grade this past Saturday using only a trackmobile, but the vehicle lost traction and ended up sending the two cars backwards down the line at approximately 30 mph. Miraculously, they didn’t hit anyone when they sped across Abington, Madison, Jefferson, and Adams. None of the cars tipped over, nor did the lumber load come loose or fall off.

However, the runaway cars did hit the remaining cars that were parked close to the switch where the Kellar Branch connects to the Tazewell & Peoria line (TZPR), derailing them and mangling the track. So, it looks like poor Carver Lumber will have to wait a little longer to get their order delivered. At least until CIRY gets a real engine and can fix the tracks.

Sounds like the city hired a real winner. First, their owner gets indicted for soliciting murder, and now they don’t have the equipment to provide the service the city contracted them to perform.

Just imagine if the people who hired CIRY were in charge of hiring someone to run the water works here in Peoria . . . .