SR0147 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0147 LRB103 31488 ECR 59348 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The proposed Quad Cities passenger rail route, running between Chicago and downtown Moline, was initially slated to begin service in 2014; and

WHEREAS, Senator Richard J. Durbin secured $177 million in federal funding for the project in 2010; and

WHEREAS, Governor JB Pritzker renewed the state's commitment to the project by providing $225 million in state funding in 2019; and

WHEREAS, As of 2023, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Iowa Interstate Railroad have failed to reach an agreement on the infrastructure upgrades needed for the project; and

WHEREAS, The passenger rail project is projected to have a $25 million annual economic impact once service begins and to bring up to 825 permanent jobs to the Quad City region; and

WHEREAS, The Mayor of the City of Moline, the State Senator of the 36th District, and the State Representative of the 72nd District in Illinois have urged Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation to request the National Surface Transportation Board get involved to bring all parties to the table; and

WHEREAS, The Surface Transportation Board has the authority to compel both IDOT and the Iowa Interstate Railroad to hold a good faith meeting on the proposed project; and

WHEREAS, After years of unnecessary delays, the last remaining hurdle to construction is an agreement between IDOT and the Iowa Interstate Railroad on the upgrades needed to convert the Iowa Interstate Railroad's existing freight tracks for passenger service; and

WHEREAS, In 2019, a five-year extension of the project's federal funding from the Federal Railroad Administration was made to provide ample time for IDOT and the Iowa Interstate Railroad to enter an agreement and for construction to begin on the project; and

WHEREAS, The Iowa Interstate Railroad continues to hold the Quad Cities community and its passenger rail advocates hostage in an egregious attempt to extract hundreds of millions of additional taxpayer dollars to improve their privately owned infrastructure while currently transporting potentially harmful chemicals and materials on that very infrastructure, which goes against the interests of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Governor JB Pritzker and IDOT to make a formal request to the National Surface Transportation Board to compel the Iowa Interstate Railroad to enter into an agreement on the Quad Cities passenger rail project.