Peoria City Council approves $100,000 for new passenger rail study
City Council took another step toward a long-term goal of adding passenger rail from Peoria to Chicago.
The council voted to approve $100,000 that will allow the city to apply for federal funds for the project. The vote was nearly unanimous, with only at-large council member John Kelly voting against the plan.
The city is eyeing two potential sources of federal funding, both from the Federal Railroad Administration: the Corridor Identification and Development Program and the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI).
"Getting into the pipeline with the Federal Rail Administration is of the utmost importance to go forward," City Manager Patrick Urich said, adding that applying to multiple funding sources has been encouraged by the federal government and is the city's best bet to secure the money for the project.
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Applicants to CRISI are required to submit an application that includes a detailed plan for the project, a proposal for funding that includes a minimum of 20% non-federal money, and a detailed cost-benefit analysis. Assembling these materials is the purpose of the proposed study.
The $100,000 from the city will be supplemented by $50,000 each from Peoria County, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, and the North Central Illinois Council of Governments.
Former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a member of the Passenger Rail Committee that Mayor Rita Ali assembled to pursue the project, underscored the unique opportunity that the city faces. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress last year, allocated $66 billion in federal funds for passenger and freight rail projects over the next five years.
"It's an investment, that economic development opportunity that will only come once in your life," he said. "Some of you won't ride this train — I probably won't — but it's for the future of the corridor and our kids and our grandkids and the opportunity for economic development. Don't let it pass by."
More:What's stopping Amtrak from coming to Peoria? Time, money and history
In June, city leaders unveiled the results of a feasibility study that showed broad public support for a Peoria-Chicago passenger rail line and outlined what it would take to get the project built. The proposed route, which would link the two cities with stops in Lasalle-Peru, Utica, Ottawa, Morris and Joliet, is estimated to cost at least $2.54 billion dollars. At the time, the portion of the line that would connect Joliet and Chicago had not yet been determined, and costs associated with that portion of the plan were not factored into the overall cost estimate.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Why Peoria needs to spend $100K on a passenger rail study
