Belvidere fight for Amtrak line picks up steam

By Thomas V. Bona

BusinessRockford.com

Genoa may have won the Amtrak battle, but Belvidere isn’t giving up the war.

Mayor Fred Brereton and other local leaders will contest the Illinois Department of Transportation’s recent decision to focus on a Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque, Iowa, route through Genoa, not Belvidere. And they’re willing to take their case all the way to the governor.

While IDOT cites a 2007 Amtrak study that the Genoa route would be faster, cheaper and more popular, local leaders say their more recent data suggests the Belvidere route would be better.

“You hate to lose a game, but when you lose a game based on a blown call, it hurts,” Brereton said. “I just want to make sure that whoever ultimately makes the decision has all of the facts, the most current information and that a decision not be based on a study that is now two years old.”

Amtrak service has been delayed several years by lack of funding, but with both opportunities included in the federal stimulus package and a state capital plan, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wants the project to move forward. Otherwise, it could fall behind competing plans in other areas seeking the same money.

Amtrak officials have said they’ll serve whichever route IDOT chooses, and stand behind the results of their 2007 study.

Steve Ernst, executive director of the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning and a key part of commuter rail efforts, said IDOT’s decision ignores the purpose of stimulus funding — to help areas hit hard by the recession.

Boone County is in bigger need of stimulus than DeKalb County, Ernst said, judging by unemployment rates.

Contact staff writer Thomas V. Bona at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.