Category Archives: Kellar Branch

Kellar Branch

STB approves discontinuance of Kellar Branch rail line

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On Friday, April 16, the Surface Transportation Board approved discontinuing rail service on the Kellar Branch line that runs through the heart of Peoria. The Board also agreed to railbank the corridor, meaning it technically could be reactivated in the future for rail use, although reactivation of railbanked corridors rarely ever happens. Railbanking preserves the corridor and assures that no part of it can revert back to the ownership of adjacent property owners.

The City of Peoria, Village of Peoria Heights, and the Peoria Park District now have 180 days to approve an agreement converting this corridor to a recreational trail. According to the STB decision, the Park District will have to “assume financial responsibility for the management of [and] any legal liability arising out of the transfer or use of [the right-of-way].”

You may recall that the inscrutable “Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation” made this possible by buying out the interests of rail carriers Pioneer Industrial Railway and Central Illinois Railroad, as well as shipper Carver Lumber. It’s been my contention that the price for buying out those interests will eventually be paid by the taxpayers, either through the City or the Park District. I expect we’ll find out what the cost was in the next few months as the Park District prepares to convert the line to a trail.

Besides the big hit taxpayers will get for buying out those interests, we’ll also be paying for the conversion itself, which is estimated to cost $6 million as of October 2008, and is partially funded by grants (which are themselves federal and state tax dollars). The Chronicle will be watching to see if the Park District’s actual costs of conversion deviate significantly from their estimates.

Kellar Branch

Next obstacle for Kellar Branch trail dreams: reversion rights

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The Peoria Park District, City of Peoria, and the clandestine Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation have just about all their loose ends wrapped up to convert the Kellar Branch railroad to a hiking/biking trail. But there’s one more wrinkle left to iron out: reversion rights.

The land over which railroad tracks run is not always owned by the railroad operator or track owner. Rather, the corridor is often an easement on private property. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “easement” as “[a] right, such as a right of way, afforded a person to make limited use of another’s real property.” So in some places along the corridor, the city doesn’t actually own the land under the tracks, they just have the right to run the tracks over someone else’s property. That’s an easement. That means if the Kellar Branch ceases to be legally recognized as a railroad right-of-way, there’s a possibility that at least some of the right-of-way would revert back to the adjacent property owners. If that happened, then the corridor could not be turned into a trail unless all those pieces of the corridor were acquired through voluntary sale or eminent domain — likely at considerable cost.

There’s a way around this, though. It’s called “railbanking.” Railbanking is “preserving railroad rights-of-way for possible future use” (Wikipedia). Basically, if it’s railbanked, the corridor would continue to be treated as if it were still a rail corridor, even though it’s being used for other purposes. It preserves the corridor so that it could be returned to rail use in the future. It’s a legal sleight of hand maneuver in this case since the City and Park District clearly have no intention of ever reverting the corridor back to rail use under any circumstances. They just want to get railbanking designation so they can convert the right-of-way to a trail without having to pay owners of the underlying property for the use of their land.

According to the City’s latest filing with the Surface Transportation Board (STB), it sounds like this issue is a point of contention between the two parties. It will be interesting to see how the STB rules in the end. If they grant a discontinuance on the line, but don’t agree to railbank it, the process of converting the Kellar Branch to a trail will get a whole lot more complicated and expensive.

I’ll never understand why the City and Park District are so determined to turn this rail line into a trail. The amount of money, effort, time, blood, sweat, and tears spent on this project is disproportionate to its value, real or perceived. It’s become an irrational obsession, and naturally, it’s the taxpayers who will pay the ever-increasing price.

City of Peoria, Kellar Branch, Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Park District

Park District can walk lapdog Journal Star on new trail

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The Peoria Journal Star has published another article on the proposed Kellar Branch conversion. Of course, it is information that was on the blogs two weeks ago. However, since they’re a full-time, mainstream media outlet, and not just doing journalism as a hobby, they had the time and access to contact several people for quotes about the project, including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, Pioneer Railcorp attorney Bill Mullins, Park District director Bonnie Noble, and head of the inscrutable Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation Tom Leiter.

Here’s what the Journal Star didn’t ask any of these people: Why did Pioneer Railcorp (who has steadfastly opposed trail conversion) change their mind? What is the purpose of the Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation? It’s been reported that Leiter’s company “bought out” the interests of the parties on the Kellar Branch; how much did that cost? Will those costs be passed on to the taxpayers? If so, why has that agreement not been publicly disclosed?

These are all questions that a watchdog media would have asked. But the Journal Star, which has long been a lapdog for the Peoria Park District, took a pass on doing any investigation that would hold public officials accountable for disclosing what’s being done or going to be done with our tax money. No doubt they’ll report on the costs after the fact, the same way they put a big article on the costs of a new charter school the day after the school board voted to approve it.

Kellar Branch

Kellar Branch a step closer to trail

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Transportation blogger David P. Jordan has the latest on the Kellar Branch saga, which is quickly drawing to a close.

In a nutshell, Pioneer Railcorp is taking the regulatory actions needed to abandon the middle portion of the Kellar Branch rail line, which will allow the city to lease the corridor to the Peoria Park District, who will convert it to a recreational trail. These regulatory actions are being taken pursuant to an agreement Pioneer made with the City of Peoria and Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) passed by the council last year.

Not yet answered is how much this will cost the taxpayers. Pioneer, CIRY, and Carver Lumber didn’t just wake up one morning and change their minds about rail service. Their interests were purchased through the agency of the enigmatic Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation, headed by Tom Leiter. Don’t think that cost, whatever it is, won’t get paid by the taxpayers. It will, mark my words. And the bill will come due after the line has been abandoned and converted — i.e., after the money has already been spent.

But, on the optimistic side, Peoria will finally be a recreational nirvana, drawing tourists from around the world to walk and bike between Toulon and Morton. All that tourism should easily get us out of debt and spur all kinds of development.

City Council, City of Peoria, Kellar Branch

More bald-faced lies about the Kellar Branch (Updated)

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At the last City Council meeting (not including executive sessions), the council deferred an agreement that will bring them closer to converting strategic infrastructure into a hiking/biking trail. Last week, the agreement was posted on the city’s website so we could all read it. But they haven’t posted the revisions. I guess they don’t want the little people to see the agreement before they vote on it next Tuesday.

What is posted includes this whopper of a statement (emphasis mine):

There have been numerous hearings concerning discontinuance of part of the Kellar Branch to a trail. No objections have been raised.

That last sentence is a bald-faced lie. I personally have objected to the discontinuance at those hearings, and so have several other rail supporters. It’s all on record, too. Look it up in the official minutes, Mr. Holling. You’re supposed to be presenting facts, not fantasy, to the council.

Also, if you haven’t seen it already, check out David Jordan’s excellent post comparing Davenport and Peoria.

UPDATE: The agreement is now on the City’s website here. It was added Friday afternoon. Also, according to a report on WMBD-TV, channel 31, the city says they were misunderstood when they said no objections had been made to abandoning a portion of the Kellar Branch. They say they meant only that no neighbors abutting the branch line had objected.

I guess they forgot about this one from the minutes of February 20, 2007:

Mr. Joe Marmon, President of Carver Lumber Company, said although the western connection was constructed to supplement the advent of the closure of Keller Branch, the western connection had caused Carver Lumber to compromise service and competitive pricing. He said Carver was forced to use alternative methods for distribution. He said he had not used the western branch for several months, due to the pricing problems. He spoke in support of services provided by Pioneer Rail, and he urged the Council to keep Keller Branch open for future economic development.

Not only was Mr. Marmon a neighbor directly abutting the tracks, but a user of rail service as well. It should be pointed out that the city promised Carver Lumber in writing that there would be “no interruption in rail service” while the western spur was being built, and that the city would intercede on their behalf if service lagged or costs rose. In fact, service was interrupted, and the city did nothing. Then when service was restored via the western connection, the city did nothing to help. The city continues to show its contempt for this business; it doesn’t even acknowledge their objections which are clearly on the record.

Oh, I know what they’ll say — Carver Lumber doesn’t directly abut the portion of the branch to be abandoned. That’s true. I guess if you define “neighborhood concerns” narrowly enough, you can make it exclude any objectors and make it easier to push through unwise agreements.

Kellar Branch

Kellar Branch will likely be abandoned after all

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Kellar Branch RailroadOn the City Council agenda this week is an agreement — one of a “series of agreements” — that will pave the way (get it?) for a portion of the Kellar Branch to be abandoned so it can be converted to a recreational trail.

This agreement is pretty mundane. It just sets out how Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) and Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) will share trackage rights on the portion of the branch that remains, as well as the western connection to the Union Pacific line.

However, there is a mysterious, new entity that has popped up in the agreement: something called the “Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation.” According to the Secretary of State, it’s a not-for-profit organization incorporated in October 2008 by Thomas Leiter. You know Tom Leiter — that’s Alexis Khazzam’s father-in-law. Khazzam is a big recreational trail supporter. It seems this corporation has signed some sort of “Leasehold Purchase Agreement” with both CIRY and PIRY in October and November of last year.

Basically what this means is that Tom Leiter has somehow bought out CIRY and PIRY’s interest in all or part of the line. I can only presume he’s done the same with Carver Lumber, although it’s not explicitly stated in this, the first in a “series of agreements.” I wrote to city attorney Randy Ray asking for more details, but all he would say is:

I will try to get answers to all of [your questions]. For now, I will answer that the plan is to build a trail between Candletree and Park, with Carver being served from the West. This result is contingent on other things happening and is not assured by the Agreement on the agenda.

Well, we know that it’s more expensive to get rail service from the west. If that were feasible, the Kellar Branch would have been abandoned years ago. So, what’s changed? Only the creation of the mysterious “Kellar Branch Corridor Corporation” and its “Leasehold Purchase Agreements.” Sounds to me like some money has changed hands, and everyone’s willing to let the Kellar Branch be abandoned now. What they couldn’t do through lawsuits and regulators, they appear to have succeeded in doing with a little filthy lucre.

So money talks. What’s new? Well, here’s what we need to keep an eye on: who’s money? If it’s Tom Leiter’s, well, that’s his affair. But if one of these future agreements involves the Peoria Park District or the City of Peoria giving a large chunk of taxpayer money to Tom Leiter in return, that’s a different story. Somehow I just have a feeling that the taxpayers are the ones who are going to end up financing this scheme.

Ya gotta love the secrecy of Peoria politics. This has clearly been going on for more than nine months, yet this is the first time we’re hearing about it (publicly, anyway), and only because it has to be approved at an open meeting. Even then, they’re going to trickle out the agreements over time, so we can only see the full picture after it’s too late for the public to make any objections. A brilliant, albeit underhanded, plan.

Congratulations to the trail enthusiasts. It seems likely they will finally get what they’ve coveted for so long. Between this and the pending museum, Utopia is clearly just around the corner.

Kellar Branch

Report: Rail with trail feasible for Kellar Branch

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The verdict is in: A side-by-side rail with trail on the Kellar Branch corridor is indeed feasible, and it only costs about 2/3 what the Peoria Park District estimated.

Earlier this year, the City of Peoria hired T. Y. Lin International to do the feasibility study. The full report is included in this week’s city council agenda.

Whereas the Peoria Park District said it would cost $29 million to build a trail next to the rail line, this civil and structural engineering firm estimated it would only cost $18 million. The Peoria Park District’s estimate can be viewed on the Friends of the Rock Island Trail website.

Why the divergence in cost estimates? A few reasons. For one thing, the park district lists as their very first assumption that “This option [side-by-side alignment] would require a fence separating the trail from the rail.” Not so, says T. Y. Lin: “this item is not required by the IDOT BDE [Bureau of Design and Environment] Manual, and is not necessary as identified in design recommendations prepared for the Federal Transit Administration with respect to rail-with-trail traffic operations.” That saves almost a million dollars right off the bat.

Also, T. Y. Lin assumed “that the proposed trail could cross the rail line where needed in order to minimize cut and fill improvements” — i.e., the entire trail needn’t be located on the same side of the tracks for the entire length as the park district suggested. That cut down on costs.

Another reason for the high figure from the park district was because, “It was determined that ‘trestle’ (platform) improvements identified in the Alternatives Analysis Report were excessive in some cases. Many segments of the proposed alignment could be adequately stabilized using less-intensive fill and retaining wall improvements than those identified in the Alternatives Analysis Report.” Further savings.

Even the $18 million figure could be lowered if the City and park district were to consider having a grade crossing across Knoxville instead of a pedestrian bridge. T. Y. Lin gives some recommendations on how to provide a safe grade crossing across Knoxville. A pedestrian bridge is estimated to cost about $1.9 million. No cost estimate was given for a grade crossing, but one can safely assume it would be less than a bridge.

Of course, the park district will still say that it’s too expensive. After all, $18 million is three times as much as $6 million — the estimated cost of ripping out the rail line and putting the trail on the former rail bed. That may be true, but that fails to recognize that ripping out the rail line is not an option. The Surface Transportation Board has already ruled on that. Thus, the options available to the park district are three: (1) build the $18 million side-by-side alignment, (2) build the less-expensive, but less-than-ideal “alternative alignment” which would include some on-street portions of the trail, or (3) consider a completely different route for connecting the Pimiteoui and Rock Island trails (e.g., extending the trail further north along the river, then extending west up through Detweiller Park).

Unfortunately, the park district and trail supporters will probably choose to continue their failed strategy of laying siege to the Kellar Branch rail line, dreaming that someday they’ll be able to eliminate this municipal asset.

Kellar Branch

Bibo gets the facts wrong on Kellar

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Terry Bibo writes an opinion column for the Journal Star, so I don’t begrudge her expressing her advocacy for converting the Kellar Branch rail line into a dedicated trail, even though I obviously disagree with her. But it does bother me when she says things like this, as if it were a fact:

Even though the Peoria Park District has money banked to make it happen, the trail has languished for years. That’s because Pioneer Rail Corp. rarely uses the railroad line but says it will one of these days. The city of Peoria hasn’t forced the issue.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

First, she makes it sound as if the Park District has money in hand, sitting in a bank somewhere for this project. What they actually have are grants for which they applied prematurely (before they had STB approval to convert the line) that are sitting in limbo, and have been for over a decade.

Secondly, the trail has not languished because of Pioneer. The trail has languished for one main reason: the Park District insists that the only option is to replace the rail line with a trail. If they would have pursued alternatives, they could have had the thing built by now. But they’re not willing to compromise with side-by-side, on-street, adjacent-to-street, or other alternatives. They’ve decided to lay siege to the rail line, willing to wait it out for as many decades as it takes to get their way — at taxpayer expense, of course.

Thirdly, Pioneer isn’t even the superficial reason the trail has been held up. You may recall that the City got Pioneer kicked off the line and replaced with Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY). CIRY was supposed to provide service to Carver Lumber via the Kellar Branch until the western connection was built, then provide comparable service via the western connection. Furthermore, they were supposed to petition the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for discontinuance of the middle portion of the Kellar Branch so it could be converted to a trail, which they did initially. But CIRY never provided service over the Kellar Branch (breach of contract), and their service via the western connection was so poor that Carver Lumber complained to the STB for relief. The STB granted that relief by reinstating Pioneer on the line. CIRY also withdrew their petition for discontinuance (also breach of contract). So if Ms. Bibo and the Journal Star are looking for a scapegoat in the rail carrier arena, they should be complaining about CIRY, not Pioneer. But you’ll never hear the truth from the Journal Star on this issue. They’ve got their boilerplate (“Pioneer is to blame for everything regarding the trail because we don’t like them”), and they’re not going to deviate from it.

Fourthly, “the City of Peoria hasn’t forced the issue”? Seriously? Are you kidding me? The City has been carrying the Park District’s and Peoria Heights’ water on this issue for 17 years. The City has spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees to force the issue. They’ve built a $2 million connecting track to try to force the issue. After a decade and a half of fighting this, they’ve finally seen the handwriting on the wall and are trying to come up with another alternative — hence, the rail/trail committee that’s looking at shared use of the corridor.

Peoria Heights, in contrast, is now trying to pick up where the City left off fighting the STB, only this time spending their own taxpayers’ money for a change. They’re going to keep tilting at windmills, and they’re going to keep wasting more time and money while not ever getting a trail built. But they’ll be praised for trying anyway, at least by Mayor Maloof and the Journal Star.

Kellar Branch

More correspondence between the Heights and Pioneer

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Here’s an e-mail that Heights Mayor Allen sent to Mike Carr (CEO of Pioneer Industrial Railway), regarding Pioneer’s contention that Peoria Heights should remove Central Illinois Railroad as a carrier on the Kellar Branch:

Dear Mike:

Regarding your demands that we take immediate steps to “kick” CIRY off of the line:

1. We are addressing the issues of which firm is running a car through the Village of Peoria Heights. That is all we can address. At this time, CIRY is not running a car or engine through Peoria Heights. Therefore, we do not feel that they are using the Kellar Branch line through the Village, thus we will not address the STB decision of allowing them to use the line.

2. If, for any reason, CIRY uses the line as it goes through Peoria Heights, we will address the issue then.

3. The City of Peoria has a different interpretation of what the lease entails with Pioneer. In the end, any interpretation of the lease will have to end up in Illinois courts for a final ruling. However, at this time, we feel the lease is valid, and that Pioneer has not owned up to its end of the lease.

4. Your reference to “minor wash outs” being the only problems Pioneer has ignored on the Kellar Branch is far too small in scope. The rail ties, cut weeds and brush, everything that is blocking, or has destroyed the drainage tiles will have to be removed, as well. Every broken drainage tile will have to be replaced. In other words, everything that has been caused by the rail through the last several years, that has impeded or destroyed the proper drainage will have to be fixed. Your “minor wash outs” repairs will not suffice. We will walk the area again after June 3, and if every drainage problem has not been corrected, we will proceed with having a resolution drawn up to remove Pioneer from the rail line.

If you have any questions, please call me at [redacted].

Thanks- Mark Allen

In response, Mike Carr had this to say:

Do what you want Mark, but understand we WILL use the line until the STB tells us not to. We have a lot car storage business inquiries so we will make certain the track in the Heights can handle the potential influx of storage cars.

Regards,
Mike Carr

And the saga continues….