Officials reapply for Iowa City-Chicago railway

Updated: July 27, 2010

Published in the Daily Iowan July 14.

Iowa Department of Transportation officials believe they will be successful in their second attempt to obtain a passenger railway from Iowa City to Chicago.

After taking in feedback from last year’s denied application, the department is adding a new project to gain funding from the Federal Railroad Administration. The application is due Aug. 6.

While there have been no fundamental changes made to the application, the Iowa Department of Transportation has added Eola Yard — additional track space to clear up train congestion near Aurora, Ill. This is also expected to increase the cost.

Another change from the 2009 process is that this time, 20 percent of the funding must come from the Iowa and Illinois — something both states have committed to — and 80 percent will be doled out by the federal government.

Their first attempt in 2009, estimated to cost $256 million, failed because of the high volume of competition all vying for the same $8 billion from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Tammy Nicholson, the director of the Office of Rail Transportation at the Iowa Department of Transportation, estimates at least $55 billion in Federal Railroad Administration funding requests came in from more than 30 states in 2009.

Although competition will remain stiff this year, $2.5 billion of federal money will be spent in fiscal 2011, and of that, $2.1 billion will be spent to fund hub-to-hub corridor railway projects, similar to the one in Iowa City.

This means the application must be top-notch to receive funding.

“The [railroad administration] has put out some new guidelines, causing some minor refinements in the project,” Nicholson said. “We have continued working on the environmental clearances that are required for the project.”

In 2009, the Iowa Legislature appropriated $3 million for the project; amounts of $1.5 million in fiscal 2011, $2 million in fiscal 2012, and $6.5 million in fiscal 2013 are expected to help fund the passenger railway, Nicholson said.

The Iowa Legislature has also put in a funding clause of a commitment of up to $20 million over a four-year period to service the state match, she said.

If funded, annual ridership is expected at 186,900 people, according to a 2008 Amtrak Feasibility Report.

These numbers are expected to increase when the next report is released, Nicholson said.

Increased business development, increased property values, and increased tourism are just a few benefits Iowa City might see, said Kelly McCann, the director of communications at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce.

“So far, we’ve had a lot of enthusiasm from residents, and we have the support of our local delegation,” McCann said. “The University of Iowa is obviously one of the largest supporters — the main constituency would likely be students — we’ve heard a lot from students who want to have this option.”

Some students agreed.

“It would be so easy to take a train to Chicago and hop on one to my town train station, which is three minutes away from my house,” UI junior Annie Duffy said, an Orland Park native.

Competition may prove to be the biggest struggle for Nicholson and Iowa Department of Transportation, but they remain hopeful.

“We’ve received good feedback, and that should certainly help weigh in our favor,” Nicholson said.