- Sep 13, 2002
- 94,197
- 190,748
- 113
This project is truly a zombie, lol. I had given it up for dead, but apparently it is BACK ON! (Not based solely on this article, but scuttlebutt I've picked up from ec-dev pros around here)
The plan also allocates funding for two new state-supported Amtrak corridors that faced numerous delays over the past decade. The new service to Moline, on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities region, would use the BNSF tracks already used by the state-supported Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr service (which serve Galesburg and Quincy in Western Illinois), and the currently freight-only Iowa Interstate railroad tracks. The upgrades to BNSF portion have already been completed, and the plan allocates a total of $447 million to make the Iowa Interstate portion suitable for passenger trains.
Amtrak and IDOT originally planned to restore Black Hawk Amtrak service, which used to connect Chicago to Rockford, Freeport, and Galena, northwest Illinois, plus Dubuque, Iowa. But issues with Canadian National, which owns the tracks they were hoping to use, led them to pursue an alternative route to Rockford, using Metra’s Milwaukee District West Line tracks and the Union Pacific tracks west of Elgin. Since there is no non-CN route to the destinations further west, that part of the plan is suspended indefinitely. Tridgell confirmed that, aside from funding a feasibility study, IDOT isn’t currently looking to take that route beyond Rockford.
The plan also allocates funding for two new state-supported Amtrak corridors that faced numerous delays over the past decade. The new service to Moline, on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities region, would use the BNSF tracks already used by the state-supported Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr service (which serve Galesburg and Quincy in Western Illinois), and the currently freight-only Iowa Interstate railroad tracks. The upgrades to BNSF portion have already been completed, and the plan allocates a total of $447 million to make the Iowa Interstate portion suitable for passenger trains.
Amtrak and IDOT originally planned to restore Black Hawk Amtrak service, which used to connect Chicago to Rockford, Freeport, and Galena, northwest Illinois, plus Dubuque, Iowa. But issues with Canadian National, which owns the tracks they were hoping to use, led them to pursue an alternative route to Rockford, using Metra’s Milwaukee District West Line tracks and the Union Pacific tracks west of Elgin. Since there is no non-CN route to the destinations further west, that part of the plan is suspended indefinitely. Tridgell confirmed that, aside from funding a feasibility study, IDOT isn’t currently looking to take that route beyond Rockford.
IDOT’s multiyear plan supports intercity rail, bus-on-shoulder… and lots of driving projects
On August 12, Governor JB Pritzker announced the Illinois Department of Transportation’s new multiyear plan, a blueprint for spending $34.6 billion on transportation infrastructure over the n…
chi.streetsblog.org