Residents and employers joined community leaders and elected officials to hear details on the steps needed to move forward one of the region's priority transit projects.
The long
process to make the proposed Southeast Service Line a reality is well underway.
Residents, commuters, and employers joined community leaders and elected
officials June 10 to hear details about how local communities and residents
would benefit from this public investment. They also learned the steps necessary
to move forward this New Start transit project and how to keep it a priority for
transportation officials and policymakers.
Step one has been initiated,
with a planning process that examines the need for the new transit line that
would directly service nine south suburban municipalities and dozens of
neighboring communities in Illinois and Indiana. At the June 10 meeting,
officials presented the first information session in Glenwood, Ill., to a full
house, sharing details about the South Suburban Commuter Rail Corridor’s land
use and local financing study. This study pulls together municipal leaders,
transportation agencies and a team of consultants to establish the viability of
creating a new commuter rail line from an existing freight line that runs from
Balmoral Park in Crete, through Steger, South Holland and other towns to
Chicago’s West Loop LaSalle Street station. It also provides for a Technical
Advisory Committee whose members – including staff from the Campaign from
Sensible Growth, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and others – will
examine land use plans around proposed station areas and advise on
transit-supportive efforts. The study was sponsored by the Village of South
Holland with the Calumet Area Corridor Council, coordinated by the South
Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA), and financed by the Regional
Transportation Authority (RTA) and the Illinois Department of Transportation
(IDOT).
At the public meeting, the
audience heard not only how the proposed Southeast Service Line would require a
significant investment from both the public and private sectors and what it
would take to get a green light on funding, but also how transportation
investment could serve as an economic engine to the region. Direct and indirect
benefits to communities and the region are substantial. Economic boons include
the creation of construction-related jobs, projected growth in business and
station areas, and annual savings stemming from the reduction of air pollution,
energy consumption, and congestion once the new line becomes serviceable.
Speaking on behalf of the Southland Legislative Caucus – which represents 18
General Assembly members – Ill. Sen. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) said, “The SE
Service Line is a priority for all of us. There are benefits beyond ridership.
The Southland cannot be left behind yet again. … Our caucus members will keep
this front and center, and both Congressmen Lipinski and Jackson have assured me
that this project is a priority for them, too.”
Attendees, however, were
cautioned that the process for federal approval and funding make take years, and
much depends upon the outcome of the federal surface transportation bill, TEA-3,
currently being debated in Washington, D.C. For each project proposal, the
federal government requires an alternative analysis review. Meanwhile, transit
agencies insist there be land use, finance and project management oversight
plans, as well as a ridership numbers analysis in order to be competitive for
New Start funds. “Federal approval may take seven to eight years, and
competition is huge among projects within the ‘T’ bill,” said Phil Pagano,
Metra’s executive director. “We’re very excited, and our intent is to move
forward as diligently as we can through this long process to ensure success.
We’ve heard from Washington that this is an extremely high
priority.”
Consultants also shared their
findings at the meeting. They offered an overview of the rail corridor’s land
use and local financing study and stressed the critical nature of local
participation in the planning process. “I want to emphasize ‘local,’” said Gary
Mitchell, project manager with Wilbur Smith Associates, at the meeting. “The
local piece of this – the station – falls to the community. It’s a local
commitment made from local priorities.” To help identify such priorities, a team
of experts including members of the Campaign for Sensible Growth, have spent the
past several months working with individual municipalities to explore how a new
commuter line would change their communities. Questions relating to proposed
station areas, transit-oriented development, housing density and retail were
addressed, while municipal leaders were charged to ready their constituents for
these and other challenges.
But many in attendance
pointed out that more than just municipal leaders must engage in these
discussions and advocate for the SE Service Line. Local business involvement and
projections of how a new transit line will spur growth and development are
critical to the ultimate success of this project. “There must be a business
element to this process,” said Pagano. “In addition to bringing people to the
Central Business District, the FTA (Federal Transit Agency) looks at whether
there’s suburb-to-suburb and reverse commute potential and how engaged business
groups are.” Ed Paesel, SSMMA’s executive director, added, “We’ve got the
support of municipal leaders and business, including the Southland Chamber of
Commerce and others. We should plan on hosting a workshop soon to further engage
the business community to work together to ensure that the Southeast Service
Line is fully funded.”
The long process toward a
funding decree by the FTA continues. Meanwhile, communities and experts
collaborate to tackle the challenge of how best to use transportation and land
development changes to improve the quality of life for residents. Understanding
financing options and economic development potential is a start, as is knowing
that planning decisions made today will shape communities well into the future.
Also critically important to
this process is the need for the local stakeholders to keep this New Start
transit project “front and center” for transportation officials and
policymakers. By working together, the south suburbs, especially those
communities along the proposed SE Service line, are taking more than first steps
toward accomplishing their ultimate goal. They are making giant strides.
Click here to view a map of the Southeast
corridor.