Category Archives: Port District

City of Peoria, Port District, State of Illinois

State takes first step toward restoring passenger train service to Peoria

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Amtrak EngineThe Heart of Illinois Regional Port District has just issued this press release regarding the effort to restore passenger train service to Peoria:

IDOT Requests Feasibility Study To Bring Passenger Rail Service To Peoria

(Peoria) – On March 8th 2007, a group of community leaders and organizers along with representatives from the passenger rail industry met in Peoria. Among the items they discussed were possible routes, funding sources, and the need for a feasibility study to address some of those concerns. The state has now taken the next step by requesting such a study be started by Amtrak.

George Weber, acting director of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), has made an official request that Amtrak begin a feasibility study to determine “potential routes and associated cost estimates as part of the proposed re-establishment of passenger rail service to the area.”

Explaining the cooperation between IDOT and Amtrak, Weber says, “Amtrak’s role in Illinois’ multi-modal transportation system is becoming more important. This is especially true in areas without existing passenger rail service. A feasibility study for proposed service is a critical step and will serve as the basis for continuing discussions in the possibilities of future expansions of passenger rail service in Illinois.”

Under the direction of Mayor Jim Ardis and the City Council, Peoria has been seeking support from Amtrak and IDOT to re-establish passenger service to the city. “We’re really excited to be following the lead that Mayor Ardis and the council have provided. Passenger rail service is a tool that Peoria must explore to maintain its world-class transportation infrastructure.” says Steve Jaeger, Executive Director of TransPORT (The Heart of Illinois Regional Port District).

TransPORT will continue to coordinate with the City of Peoria to facilitate the Amtrak study and work with other local communities and organizations to develop a plan to aide the entire region. It has been nearly 25 years since passenger rail service was offered in the Peoria area. A similar feasibility study was recently completed in Rockford and another has begun in the Quad Cities. It is expected that the Peoria study could take a year to finish, and further steps to secure local service could take place after its completion.

This is great news. Peoria could really benefit from passenger rail service, especially if the train came into downtown right along the riverfront — there would be all kinds of tourism possibilities. Not only that, but passenger train ridership is up all over the state, which means there’s demand for rail transportation. Bradley students could benefit from the train service just like ISU students benefit from it in Bloomington-Normal.

Kellar Branch, Port District

Rail Service important for Peoria to be “hub of shipping”

 

I took Bill Dennis’s advice and took a look at WCBU’s new website.  Right on the front page is this story (reprinted here in its entirety because it’s short and I couldn’t find a permalink):
PORT DISTRICT STUDIED
Peoria – 11/3/05
The effort to make the Peoria region a hub of shipping has identified thirteen possible locations for development. A study from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission looks at everything from the strength of air, water, rail, and highway transportation in the area to the kinds of goods that would likely come through a port. The study suggests 13 places in the six county region that could be developed into a port. It also looks at the constraints that could hamper such development efforts. They include having a limited number of interstate highways, and secondary roads that may not be adequate for major shipping corridors. It also includes restrictions on developing wetlands, flood plains, and other federally protected land. The study also points out limited rail capacity in the region. The Heart of Illinois Port District, now called TRANSport, will use the study to analyze the market, and eventually create a business plan for port developments. Leaders of the effort project if successful, the port district could create thousands of jobs in the area in the next ten to twenty years.
I would like to see this study, but I can’t find it anywhere on the web.  Specifically, I’m intrigued by the “limited rail capacity in the region.”  I wonder how they arrived at that conclusion.  And I wonder what impact closing down the Kellar Branch to make it a walking trail has on that conclusion.  As regular readers of this blog know, severing the Kellar Branch’s connection to the riverfront means Pioneer Park loses access to seven major rail lines — it will only have access to Union Pacific once the tracks are removed. Granted, it’s only one area, but what does it say about Peoria’s commitment to bringing in higher-paying jobs when it won’t even maintain existing competitive rail service in one of its prime growth areas?
What this study does, among other things, is show that rail service is not some antiquated, 19th-century mode of transportation.  It’s not only viable, but essential to cities that want to attract business and be a “hub for shipping.”  And if our capacity is limited, it’s only because the city has not made it a priority.  There’s not a whole lot Peoria can do about lack of highways or restrictions on developing federally-protected land.  But rail capacity we have, and should be exploiting. 

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