While the Recreational Trail Advocates are stepping up their efforts to get the Kellar Branch rail line converted to a hiking/biking trail, there is another plan on the table that calls for keeping the rail line for passenger service.

Sharon Deckard, President of the Illinois Prairie Railroad Foundation, has put together a proposal for offering commuter and tourist trolley service along the Kellar Branch. The service would provide transportation from downtown, through shopping areas such as Junction City and Peoria Heights, and up through Pioneer Park to a proposed “park and ride” station. A trolley would be used from the Gomaco Trolley Company which builds replicas of historic trolley cars, but with modern train technology. They could build a replica of one of Peoria’s old street cars or an Illinois Traction interurban. (Of course, the new cars would be self-propelled, so no need to restring electric wires for power.)

Deckard has personally delivered her proposal to each Peoria City Council member and the Mayor of Peoria Heights. You can see her full proposal here: Trolley-Proposal-Full.pdf (warning: large file! 8.8 MB PDF).

If you don’t want to download the large PDF file, here is the main text of the proposal:

Using what we already have to benefit
TODAY and TOMORROW

All across the country cities are finding the need to go to commuter rail. This is a service that allows them to come from their suburban bedroom communities into the city to their jobs and businesses.

The stop and go commute, parking problems, fuel emissions in the air and a host of other things including the most important “time”, is causing these cities to install commuter rail. This ranges from park n rides to full length light rail through larger downtowns.

They are finding that providing this access to their cities is encouraging residents and businesses alike to relocate near these amenities.

The biggest problem in establishing this program for commuters is that they find it cost prohibitive and it takes many years to accomplish it. They have to buy the land, clear it, install the tracks and buy the equipment, as well as run it so that it is beneficial to itself and the community.

We, here in Peoria are way ahead of the game. We have the rail, in place and waiting. We have eliminated 90% of the cost before we start.

Peoria is a very unique community in that it has a complete ring road of trackage around the entire city. There are eight railroads that currently serve Peoria. This gives a foot in the door to numerous benefits for this community.

A “park n ride” trolley can be done and will be extremely beneficial for all.

Using the Kellar Branch and putting park n ride stops at places such as: Allen Road, Pioneer Parkway, Knoxville Ave, Prospect Rd. and Glen Ave., will allow those coming into work each day the opportunity to avoid the stop and start traffic, parking problems.

As many of us know exiting the parking decks at closing time is a zoo. It will lower emissions in the downtown area and make the entire environment healthier for all the citizens. This will encourage businesses and residents to locate here. We will offer an amenity that, until now, has been an attraction of the big cities. They may be bigger than we are but they are not better.

There are several points of interest with this program.

1. We already have the trackage.
2. The trolley can be obtained using Economic Development Grants and other sources of funding that takes no money out of taxpayers pockets.
3. If the trolley shares the track with a freight company this cuts the maintenance in half.
4. The trolley can be used for many things:

   A. Tourism. This can go hand in hand with the upcoming riverfront museum.

   B. Renting the trolley for, weddings, birthday parties, retirements, and corporation meetings in order to offer something unique to their audiences. Meetings and other things could also be catered aboard the trolley.

   C. Weekend tourism trips with a car attached for dinning on the rails.

   D. Think of taking prospective new businesses on this ride up though the Heights and out to Growth Cell Two and show them what we can offer them if they build their business here.

5. How do we support this? The largest dollar spent in the United States is advertising. Recent studies say that the average commuter is subject to 5,000 ads every single day. This is a lot of advertising exposure. The advertisers love what is call “captive audience”. This is where someone is sitting in one place and expose to advertising without other distractions. LED signs can be installed inside of the trolley and constantly changed. This will bring in significant income to maintain the trolley and hire the operating personnel. There can be monitors installed to advertise community events adding to the tourism dollars.
6. Along with the trolley will be the parking stations. An entrepreneur can contract with the trolley company to build and operate these stations. They would be enclosed for riders comfort while waiting for the trolley. These can include coffee machines, newspaper racks and advertising. Here again is income for the trolley service allowing ridership fees to be kept at a very minimum.
7. Riders will be able to use their laptops, iPods, ear phones etc., to enjoy the ride or catch up on their work before and after work. We are helping them to preserve their most important asset “Time”. We are all short of time.
8. On the riverfront end of the trip arrangements can be made with the local transit company to run shuttles into the downtown to drop workers off at their places of employment.
9. One the outbound side, the commuters doesn’t have to fight the parking decks or the exodus of people at the end of the work day with constant stop and go. You are tired and ready to head home. IDOT says that 29,817 people come into Peoria to work everyday That is a lot of people driving, parking both morning and afternoon. If a lot of them take the trolley back to their cars when they get their they are rested and their cars are still inside the city limits. They can shop, go to special events or out to dinner or meet friends somewhere. They have had a chance to rest and are now ready to do something else or just go home and arrive there in decent shape.

Tourism

On the tourism side of this project is the new museum. Tourism dollars are among the second highest dollars spent in the nation. If people come into your town for a visit to the museum and they pay their entry fee, visit the museum and then leave town we have gained nothing. Entry fees barely cover the cost of maintaining a museum. If the visitor browses the museum, goes to another event, maybe at the Civic Center or O’Brien Field or the Symphony, has supper at one of our fine restaurants, stays over night in a hotel, buys gas for their vehicle, we have gained. This is economic progress and selling the wonders of Peoria, We have fine hotels, restaurants, shopping, special events, a beautiful riverfront and many other things to offer visitors and residents alike. Think what it would be like to take a trip on the trolley up the Kellar Branch to the Heights, get on a shuttle and on to Tower Park, shop the antique stores there, or further on up the line to Junction City which is currently in the middle of a wonderful redesign and additions, but still maintaining its old style charm. They are planning a fine upscale restaurant and many other amenities to attract the locals and the tourists. These tourism dollars will be more economic progress in the area.

Think of riding the trolley in the evening and dinning on the rails while trekking through the countryside up through the Kellar Branch. Something that is unusual and provocative for the area.

We already have the rails and now we have the opportunity to use them to bring Economic Development to the area and assist today’s residents and those in the future. We are way ahead of the game in relation to other cities that have to start from scratch.

Along with running trolleys on the Kellar Branch we can also run freight from the riverfront to growth cell two. Having the Kellar Branch open allows for access to eight different railroads which makes the rates competitive. If we restrict Growth Cell Two to the western connection there is only one railroad running their and we are at their mercy. This causes new businesses to think twice about coming to the area if they need rail access. If we can show them we have competitive access and thus better rates and services, they are going to look more favorably to building businesses here. This will help in economic development. Bringing businesses, jobs, residents, taxpayers and putting money in the city coffers to help develop Peoria into a place you want to live in.

With both the trolley and the freight we gain business, residents, taxpayers, money into the city to benefit all.

Cleaner air, better transportation, preserving the asset of “time” for the citizens. Tourism, economic development. What more could you ask?

It is even possible to run the trail along side the tracks. Grant you there are some places that are impossible to do this, so you think outside the box and go out into the residential area for a few blocks and then come back to join the trail/track side by side. I It can be done, its being done all over the country. There are more than 30 states right now that have this going on in their state. There is a freight company right here, right now, willing to help this happen using their own equipment and money. They are willing to work with the trolley and the trail and make it a three for one. Everybody benefits. Trolleys can be retrofitted to have bike carriers either on the trolley or pulling a small cart behind to carry bikes for those that would like to take the trolley part way and bike part way. Also, freight and trolley movement on the Kellar Branch makes the trail safer for hikers and bikers. They are less likely to be accosted if there is a train coming through every little while. They don’t have to have a fence in-between the rail and trail, a beautiful evergreen hedge will suffice and add to the cleaner air and beauty of both.

It has been said that having a trail running down the Kellar Branch will enhance property values. Wouldn’t having a trail and the trolley do the same? This is something unique to our area.

The trolleys can be run on a battery system thus emitting no fossil fuel emissions. They also come with ADA electric ramps that slide under the undercarriage of the trolley for easy loading of wheelchairs and strollers and those that can’t climb steps.

LED signs can be mounted inside the cars for advertising and even to announce events that are happening in the area, thus improving tourism and locals can keep up on what is going on in the area. There would be no outside advertisement on the trolley. We want the authentic look of an antique trolley that is appealing and inviting to the public.

Attached you will find research done on this project.

We have researched this and talked to the trolley company. They are more than happy to have people visit their shops. They have been in business many years and have many successful stories all over the country.

Taking a page from other cities that have trolleys running we can do what they did in getting economic development grants and other sources of funding to purchase the trolley. This means the city has no cost to buy them. If they trolley company is run by an independent company or a not for profit company the city would have no problems involved in running it.

If a freight company buys the Kellar Branch and contracts to this company to run the trolley it shares the burden of the rail and maintenance. Tracks would have to be brought up to passenger grade service, which can be done easily. Again no cost to the city because the line would be owned by the freight company. STB and FRA would rule the way the service is run.

Money, from business, tourism, ridership fees, advertising, property taxes, etc., would be going into the coffers of the city instead of coming out.

This would also benefit the trail groups because more taxpayer money would be available to maintain the trail running along side the tracks.