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.
I am waiting with baited breath to see all the tourists and their fabulous dollars from their unemployment checks to come to our area. And now with less police on the force and the trails being made unavailable to police patrol cars we should really be able to enjoy the “quality of life” that has been predicted by the trail people. And of course all this largesse will become available almost immediately. With this in mind Peoria should become the mecca of the State and the country. Oh joy, oh joy. What a happy new year for us all.
I’m guessing that ol’ C.J. will be one of the first folks on his bike, just whistling and having a grand ol’ time with his kiddies, truckin’ on down the trail.
When he gets to the end of the trail, he’ll simply say, “That was fun.”
And I’m guessing Prego will be another of the first folks on his bike. But he’ll be on the trail every day, using it to commute to work. He’ll put baskets on the back of his bike so he can also use it to get groceries. He’ll be riding on it year-round, even with our current weather conditions. He’ll sell his car.