The RTA (Rabid Recreational Trail Advocates) is on the rampage again. They’ve stepped up their efforts to convert the Kellar Branch into a dedicated trail. The article in the paper is full of interesting information on their efforts:

The group then voted to spend up to $10,000 to hire its own lawyer, and will set up meetings with U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, and Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durban [sic] and Barack Obama, to seek their backing.

Of course, the city has had their lawyer working on this issue for about 10 years, but sure, go ahead and waste your money on yet another lawyer. That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee.

They’ll ask members to write the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, and will gather petitions signed earlier in favor of the trail to submit to local officials.

Do these people not realize by now that the STB exists to ensure competitive rail service is protected? They’re more concerned about Carver Lumber and new businesses that may be coming on line than the efforts of trail advocates to rip up rails and ties at any cost.

They also will talk with members of the Peoria City Council and Peoria Heights Village Board.

The Heights may be a linchpin in this debate. They don’t appear to be as sold on the trail proposition as Peoria has been thus far. If they pull out of the deal, it will be a dead issue.

The group discussed proposed new shippers on the line, and said they were located either south of War Memorial Drive on a part of the line that will not be turned into a trail, or at Pioneer Park where they can be served by the $2 million line the city built to serve an industrial park there.

This ignores the whole issue behind why the discontinuance proceeding was held up in the first place. The basis for Carver Lumber’s objection to shutting down the Kellar Branch permanently was that they were not getting comparable or competitive service via the western connection. Taking out any portion of the Kellar Branch, no matter how small, breaks Carver’s link to competitive rail service and leaves them hostage to Union Pacific’s rates. That’s going to be true of any new customers that come on line in Pioneer Park as well — they’re going to want competitive rail service via the Kellar Branch.

Elsewhere in the article, Rucker claims that the STB ruling is “highly favorable” to the RTA’s goals for trail use, and City Attorney Randy Ray says he’s heard that Union Pacific (UP) is working with Central Illinois Railroad to provide competitive service to Pioneer Park from the west. This shows a profound naïveté on both Rucker’s and possibly Ray’s part.

Rucker doesn’t know the difference between “discontinuance” and “adverse discontinuance,” nor does he understand what an “alternative service request” is, so he’s misreading the STB’s decision. Ray can’t seriously believe that any “agreement” worked out between UP and CIRY is going to have any long-term impact. UP still has a monopoly on service to the western spur, and though they could lower their rates today, they could just as easily raise them tomorrow. The only guarantee of competitive service is competition. Competition is only available via the Kellar Branch.

[Park District Director Bonnie] Noble said that both Peoria and Peoria Heights agreed to pursue the trail years ago, and contracted with the park district to build and maintain it.

I don’t believe this is true. The only contract I know of is this ground lease, and that is only between the City of Peoria and the Park District, not Peoria Heights. In any event, §2.2 states that the contract does not take effect until the STB rules to discontinue service on the Kellar Branch. That hasn’t happened.

Money from the state and federal governments is still available, she [Noble] said, but they will not fund a trail beside a rail line, as some have suggested.

If the reporting is accurate on this, that’s a new story from Ms. Noble. I wonder to which grant(s) she is referring. The Illinois Bicycle Path Grant Program will indeed fund a trail beside a rail line.

[Peoria Heights Mayor Mark] Allen said he’s also interested in the potential of running a rail car along the line to transport people from the new museum on the riverfront to Peoria Heights, Junction City and the Rock Island Trail. “I think the interest would be there if it’s marketed properly.”

Great idea! You know what else they could do? They could put a bike rack on the rail car similar to the ones on CityLink buses. Then trail enthusiasts can ride the rail from downtown to Pioneer Park to pick up the Rock Island Trail. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be a bigger tourist draw than having a trail through residents’ backyards.

The rail line is in poor condition and has been ruled unsafe by federal inspectors. Some of the rails date from 1902, Rucker said.

Pioneer has offered to pay for the line’s rehabilitation.

Bingo. Pioneer has also offered to purchase the line from the city for $565,000. The park district wants to lease the line for 99 years at $1 per year. Which do you think is a better deal for the city?

The Journal Star reports that Ray LaHood has given up on converting the Kellar Branch to a dedicated hiking trail in today’s second editorial in as many days on the topic. Quoth Congressman Ray:

“We need to build a trail next to the rail. I don’t think we’re ever going to get the kind of ruling we want” from the Surface Transportation Board.

So now the Journal Star is starting to consider the side-by-side option again. They’ve read the Park District’s estimate on how much it supposedly would cost and accepted it without question. I posited my response to that in the comments section of their website. I’ll quote it here, too:

The Journal Star says: “a park district analysis from July 2006 puts the side-by-side option at an astounding $29 million.”

Astounding indeed. I have a copy of this “analysis,” and it is completely unverifiable. There is no information on what engineering firm (if any) produced this estimate; no information on how they determined costs, materials, or labor; no location information given for the numerous “trestles” they claim are necessary; and no comparison to what the trail would cost if they could remove the rails. If Pioneer had put together an “analysis” as poor as the park district’s, the JSEB would be throwing every pejorative adjective in the thesaurus at it.

“there’s no guarantee that Peoria and Peoria Heights will find a suitable carrier…”

Pioneer is a suitable carrier by any objective measure. The only reason they would be considered unsuitable in your eyes is because they don’t agree with you regarding the rail-to-trail conversion.

“…or that any business besides Carver Lumber will want service.”

There are already two more companies that want service on the Kellar Branch, and the Heights is interested in trolley service on the line.

“The line could continue to lie fallow, covered in weeds and trash.”

Right now, the only reason the line is in that condition is because the City of Peoria is allowing it to remain that way. At present, CIRY has no contract with the city that would allow them to run trains on the line, and the city is still in a dispute with Pioneer over whether their contract is still in force; from the city’s perspective, they have no contract with either carrier. Thus, the responsibility falls to the city to maintain the line and abate the weed problem. Why haven’t they done it?

“Meanwhile, surrounding communities enjoy their bike paths, watching new homes sprout up around them.”

News flash: surrounding communities enjoy new construction for many reasons, including school districts and taxes. Accessibility to bike paths is not high on the priority list when people look for a home, if it’s on the list at all.

Another news flash: There’s no place for homes to “sprout up” along the Kellar Branch because there are already homes and businesses along the entire route — it goes right through the middle of the city.

Give it up, editors.

I should have added this: The Journal Star says, “Trains derail, even slow-moving ones. The poor condition of the Kellar tracks enhances that possibility unless there is substantial investment.” I would venture to say that the chances of being mugged on the trail are greater than the chances of having a train fall on you — unless the city hires Central Illinois Railroad to run the line, in which case the odds are even.

A comment from The Mouse reminded me of something.

Since the Journal Star is now fervently defending property rights, I assume they’ll be shutting down their “Save the Journal Star” campaign. After all, it’s Copley’s (and their successor’s) right to do whatever the heck they want with their property, right?

The Journal Star weighed in this morning on the latest Kellar Branch ruling from the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

I have to confess I’m tired of reading these ridiculous editorials. They just keep repeating the same disinformation over and over. They’re not adding anything new to the debate, so if you want to read my response, just check out any of the myriad posts I’ve already done on this topic.

There’s just one comment I’d like to answer, and that’s this:

One final point about the federal ruling: It does not kill the bike path, contrary to claims circulating in the community.

No, it doesn’t kill the bike path. As has always been the case over the past 10-15 years, the bike path could happen in short order if the city and park district would stop this all-or-nothing approach and instead start planning a shared rail and trail use on this corridor. However, if they keep up their bullheadedness, they will likely get no trail at all.

Of course, when the Journal Star says the federal ruling does not kill the bike path, what they mean is that it doesn’t kill the dedicated bike path — the one that would kill the Kellar Branch as a rail line. That’s technically true, but in order for the city to continue pursuing that route, they’d have to hire yet a third carrier (i.e., someone other than Pioneer Industrial Railway or Central Illinois Railroad), sign a new contract, get them up and running, and have them petition the STB to discontinue service on the Kellar Branch — essentially starting the whole proceeding over again — and fight Carver Lumber and Pioneer and CIRY the whole time. The new proceeding could drag out for a year easily. This would be a foolish, expensive, time-consuming, and risky path to take. The chances of it being successful are not in the city’s favor.

It’s time for the city to change direction, pursue shared use of the rail corridor, and move on.

UPDATE: David Jordan has written a more thorough rebuttal over on the Peoria Pundits site.

The City Council has decided to explore their options regarding the Kellar Branch.

You may remember that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) recently ruled, in effect, that the Kellar Branch is to remain an operational rail line and reopened the question of whether Pioneer Industrial Railway or Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) should be the carrier. Councilman Sandberg recognizes that if the STB, a federal agency, decides who the carrier should be on the Kellar Branch, then the city’s hands will be tied. Thus, he would like to see the city be proactive and come up with a strategy on how to proceed. After making a motion to that effect, the council passed it unanimously.

The city does not have many options, as I see it. Here’s what they can do:

1. Keep trying to discontinue service on the line. This is what the Sierra Club and the Recreational Trails Advocates would like, if Joyce Blumenshine’s remarks to the council are any guage of their thinking. It would require the city to hire another carrier (besides Pioneer or CIRY), get STB approval of that carrier, then have that carrier file for discontinuance on the line and go through the same fight with Carver Lumber again. Estimated time: 1-2 years at least. Probability of success: Nil.
2. Make a deal with Pioneer. Pioneer has offered to buy the line or accept a long-term lease to provide service. In return, they have also offered to do a number of other positive things, including an offer to help build a trail concurrent with the rail right-of-way with up to $100,000 of in-kind service. Estimated time: immediate. Probability of success: Excellent.
3. Wait for STB to act. This would mean just leaving everything status quo until the STB rules on who should be allowed to service the line, at which point the council will lose all bargaining power and will get neither the carrier of their choice nor a recreational trail. Estimated time: 3-6 months. Probability of success: Non-existent.

I can’t see any other possibilities, but there may be some other permutations of the ones I’ve listed.

It’s interesting to note the rhetoric put forth in discussion on this item. Fifth district councilman Patrick Nichting mentioned that council members recently took a ride on the Kellar Branch line (within the past few weeks) and derailed along the way. From the conversation, it sounded like CIRY was providing the ride. Nichting also noted the thick vegetation overgrowth and asked CIRY how long it had been this way; they answered, “long before we got here.” The clear implication was that Pioneer had not adequately cared for the line when they were operating it.

Yet Pioneer was able to successfully run trains up the Kellar Branch without incident the entire time they were servicing Carver Lumber and other shippers along the line. It was CIRY who had a runaway train that endangered the lives of Peorians and never provided service. It was CIRY who stopped maintaining the tracks. And it’s CIRY who withdrew their petition to discontinue service because they wanted to start operating the line themselves. If the track were really in such irreparable condition, why would they take such an action? If the western spur were sufficient, why did they withdraw their petition?

Nichting also brought up the tired old excuse that there are portions of the right-of-way that aren’t wide enough for the rail and trail to run concurrently “without adding bridges.” This is the Park District’s logic that Nichting is parroting. There are ways to hurdle these types of obstacles if anyone would be willing to compromise. One obvious idea is to simply work around those areas by running the trail out to the side of the street. It wouldn’t have to be an on-street bike route; the trail could run along the city’s easement parallel to the street, thus still allowing the park district to meet the requirements for their grant money. It would be no different than what East Peoria did with their trail to avoid the trailer park along route 150.

Councilman Morris brought up the council’s history of supporting a recreational trail through town. Yes, historically that has been true. But times have changed. The STB has ruled. They’re not going to allow the line to be turned into a recreational trail. It’s time to compromise.

City Manager Randy Oliver offered to bring back options to the council at the February 13 council meeting. It will be interesting to see what transpires between now and then.

Update: The Journal Star has filed its report. Elaine Hopkins was a little confused when she wrote this statement:

Pioneer’s successor, Central Illinois Railroad Company, has withdrawn its petition to discontinue service over the line, with the board granting the withdrawal. That withdrawal is another necessary step in trail development.

No, the petition was a necessary step in trail development. The withdrawal of that petition was a death knell for trail development.

There’s a lot of hopeful talk and disinformation coming from trail enthusiasts. On WMBD-AM 1470 this morning, they just wrote off Pioneer’s quote to repair the rail line, claiming that it would cost $10-20 million to fix it up and saying the city can’t afford it. The truth is, far from having to spend millions of dollars, the city could gain over a half-million dollars by selling the line to Pioneer; their offer to purchase the line and grant a 999-year lease to the Park District to share the right-of-way for a trail still stands. The city can have both and make money in the process if they stop listening to the uninformed, tunnel-vision trail enthusiasts.

It’s official. The Kellar Branch will remain a rail line for the foreseeable future. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) formally granted Central Illinois Railroad’s request to withdraw its discontinuance petition. That puts the final nail in the coffin of the ill-conceived plan to convert the Kellar Branch to a hiking/biking trail.

At the same time, the STB took another step back in time and reopened the case of whether Pioneer Railcorp should have been kicked off the Kellar Branch by the City two years ago. The STB found in favor of the City back in 2005 in that case and forced Pioneer off the line. But since that decision was made, the STB states, “Circumstances have changed.”

We now have evidence that Carver Lumber objects to the Cities’ plans and is dissatisfied with the service it is receiving from CIRY [Central Illinois Railroad]. According to Carver Lumber, the service is slower and more expensive, and has been subject to delays and interruptions. … [T]he Board specifically predicated its August 2005 Decision on the Cities’ statement that they would maintain the existing level of service to the satisfaction of the users of that service. In these circumstances, it is appropriate to reconsider our August 2005 Decision now that Carver Lumber’s evidence has cast doubt on the representation we had previously relied on.

Now this is quite a predicament for the City. The City’s whole purpose for kicking Pioneer off the line was so that they could turn it into a hiking trail. They fought a bitter fight with Pioneer and won. Then they signed an agreement with CIRY that they would provide service over the Kellar Branch just until a new spur was built from the Union Pacific rail line west of Pioneer Park. After that, according to the agreement, CIRY would petition the STB to discontinue service on the Kellar Branch so the rails could be torn up and the right-of-way turned into a walking path.

Well, CIRY never provided service over the Kellar Branch (causing great expense to Carver Lumber), and now they’ve withdrawn their petition to discontinue service on the branch so they can continue to use it themselves. Essentially, they’ve screwed the City twice.

Now, since the STB has reopened the whole issue of whether or not Pioneer or CIRY should be the carrier on the line, the City has to make a decision. Will they continue to fight to have Pioneer thrown off the line just so CIRY — who has royally screwed them twice — can run the line and reap the profits? Or do they now withdraw their request to kick Pioneer off the line and screw CIRY, but end up with Pioneer — the company that arguably was the key factor in scuttling their walking path plans — running the line instead?

Ha ha ha! This is too good. Who will the City choose? Park-District-plan-busting Pioneer or Double-crossing CIRY?

I, of course, vote for Pioneer, since they are the more competent of the two carriers, are locally owned, and have shown a commitment to the community (e.g., they’ve offered to help build a trail next to the rail line and provide transit/tourist service on the line). CIRY was a hired gun that endangered Peoria citizens with their runaway train, cost Carver Lumber truckloads of money, and double-crossed the City. The City owes them nothing.

The most important thing is that the Kellar Branch has effectively been saved from destruction, and now, hopefully, the City can move towards turning this asset into a money-maker — either through a long-term lease or an outright sale — and then reap the benefits of increased freight traffic (read: new businesses & jobs) along the line. If they sell it to Pioneer, maybe they’ll even get a trail next to the rail — a win-win!