Lorain, Ohio, contemplating adding trolley system

Written by jrood

The time could be ripe to attract federal money for a trolley system connecting downtown Lorain, Ohio, with other parts of the community, supporters of Lorain Street Railway said, the Morning Journal reports. 

On Feb. 22, Lorain City Council committees will consider a presentation from Dennis Lamont, president of Lorain Street Railway, which advocates the streetcar system.



Not only would trolleys
provide transportation, they would provide jobs as well, Lamont said. Lorain’s
heavy industrial heritage, factories and workers would be a good fit for
restoring trolley cars for light rail networks around the country, he said.



"It sounds like a little
touristy, gimmicky thing, but there’s jobs available," Lamont said. "We have
the skill sets."



In 2006, local leaders
drew attention to the streetcars when they hosted representatives from the city
of Kenosha, Wis., a city that gained success with its own trolleys.

 Since
then, the Lorain Street Railway and Lorain Port Authority have sought state and
federal funding to jumpstart the project. 

The trolley network in Lorain would
take an estimated $7 million to build over two years. Once operational, the
streetcars could create up to 64 operational jobs, Lamont said.



Meanwhile, workers could
train to set up a shop restoring older railcars from around the country, he
said.

 Lorain’s steel mill would be an ideal factory for railcar restoration
because of its heavy equipment already in place, said Rick Novak, executive
director at the Lorain Port Authority, a longtime trolley supporter.

 Outside
Ohio, light rail projects are growing, but new rail cars can cost up to $6
million. Restoration of an older car that is not handicap-accessible can cost
$500,000, but that is a bargain when compared to new ones, Lamont said. He
acknowledged his ideas already are in place and working in other cities around
the country.


With the country in
economic recession, rail also has become a hot topic among infrastructure
improvement and job creation programs.

 Last month, the Federal Railroad
Administration announced $400 million to create passenger rail between
Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. For freight rail transit, the U.S.
Department of Transportation this week announced Ohio and three other states
will receive $98 million to improve railroads to allow trains to carry
double-stacked containers, increase freight capacity and make the CSX Transportation
rail corridor more marketable to major East Coast ports.



Lamont hopes to round up
city and regional support for the smaller-scale streetcar project, which also
could be eligible for federal economic stimulus money, Novak said.



"We’ve dutifully been
submitting the applications for a number of years now," Novak said about
federal rail and transit programs. "Unfortunately, there’s just so much money
out there, but we’re going to keep trying and we’ll get there."



A Lorain trolley loop could
be based at the Black River Landing station and stretch along Lorain’s linear
downtown, from City Hall to West 21st Street, Lamont and Novak said. A
southerly route could connect the line to the Amtrak station in Elyria and run
near Lorain County Community College.

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