Happening Now
Illinois Needs Your Input on Next Phase of Chicago - St. Louis Rail Corridor
March 26, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail
The Illinois Department of Transportation is looking for public input on the next phase of the Chicago – St. Louis rail corridor, and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association is organizing local train advocates to ensure that the potential for truly world class high speed operations is protected:
IDOT is currently reconstructing the tracks between Joliet and Granite City to increase cruising speeds from 80 to 110 mph. That work is already paying dividends with much improved service.
Now, they are preparing the Tier II Environmental Impact Statements for the end segments. The Tier II’s will include preliminary design work that will determine how many and what type of trains can operate on those segments. When completed, the projects will be eligible for federal funds.
In this first step, IDOT will define the scope of the projects by preparing Purpose and Need Statements. All future decisions about the projects will be governed by the Purpose and Need Statements. That is why it is so important that you comment now and show your support for as forward-thinking statements as possible.
The deadline for comment is April 1. You can head over to MidwestHSR.org to find out more.
"The National Association of Railroad Passengers has done yeoman work over the years and in fact if it weren’t for NARP, I'd be surprised if Amtrak were still in possession of as a large a network as they have. So they've done good work, they're very good on the factual case."
Robert Gallamore, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University and former Federal Railroad Administration official, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University
November 17, 2005, on The Leonard Lopate Show (with guest host Chris Bannon), WNYC New York.
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