Moline, Ill., to buy property for Amtrak terminal
Written by jrood
Moline, Ill., is one step closer to being a hub in the return of passenger rail service to the Quad-Cities, the Quad-City Times reports. In a unanimous vote July 20, the city council approved spending $993,000 to purchase property near existing railroad tracks for conversion to an Amtrak terminal. The property is at 1201 4th Ave., the site of the O'Rourke Building, and an adjacent vacant parcel at 323 13th St. The property is owned by High Rent LLC.
In January, Illinois Gov.
Pat Quinn promised $45 million to create the Chicago to Quad-Cities route. That
money is to be used for track and equipment upgrades.
An application also is being
made by the state for a $16-million Tiger II grant from the U.S. Department of
Transportation, said Paul Rumler, executive director of the Quad-Cities
Passenger Rail Coalition.
The 2010 appropriations
bill authorized $600 million for National Infrastructure Investments grant
program, aka Tiger II, that is administered by the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
"We’re one step closer to
having rail service in the Quad-Cities," Rumler said, adding that the goal is
to have everything up and running by 2012.
He added that the purchase
of the property is Moline’s match to the Tiger II grant.
"The city either had to
purchase the property or at least have an option on it to get the Tiger II
grant," Rumler said.
The terminal will be built
in modules, and will grow as traffic grows, he said.
The Tiger II grant will be
announced in September, Rumler said, along with a high-speed rail grant to
extend service to Iowa City.
Earlier this year, plans
were announced to build the Amtrak station at Centre Station, the mass transit
facility on River Drive across the railroad track. But Moline Mayor Don Welvaert
said the first floor of the O’Rourke Building is now the planned location. The
station can be expanded to the adjacent vacant property.
Welvaert said he is
confident the passenger rail service will be popular.
"There are hundreds of
students at the University of Iowa from here and Chicago that will travel back
and forth," he said.
"There are people in
Chicago who will take the train to come to the i wireless Center, and people
here who will take the train to Chicago," he added.
"It will be different from
driving your car three hours and then parking your car for $60 a night,"
Welvaert said.
In January, Illinois was
awarded $1.2 billion in federal money for high-speed rail service between
Chicago and St. Louis.
