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| Capital Bill Petition Drive a Part of Railroad Days Activities |
There are still plenty of carnival rides, flea markets, chances to tour the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Yards and other items that are always a part of the annual Railroad Days festival in Galesburg, but if you didn't look, you might have missed another push to get the Illinois Legislature and the Governor to back a capital spending bill.
The Midwest High Speed Rail Association is taking donations throughout the weekend, but also is encouraging residents to sign a petition to fund the capital bill that would benefit roads, bridges, and schools around the state.
Kasia Rivera is the Illinois Field Organizer for the Association, and tells WGIL the capital bill is important to them, because it would also fund passenger rail service. "(It) will add track capacity, increase speeds, and definitely get us new train sets," Rivera said. "We're hoping that this type of improvement will give us better train reliability, shorten travel times, and basically expansion throughout the state. We're talking about Rockford, Galena, we're talking about the Quad Cities, Decatur, Peoria, and a lot of other municipalities in the future."
Rivera says her organization believes the Governor and lawmakers see the benefits of both statewide Amtrak service and commuter trains in the Chicago area, with gas prices at or over four-dollars a gallon, and with more and more cars on the road causing more and more traffic congestion.
For more information about the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, and the petition they want the public to sign, click here. |
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| 06 29 08 by Newsroom |
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