3-C rail vote hints at trouble down line
Controlling Board approves study, but plan’s future iffy
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 2:50 AM
By James Nash
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHGov. Ted Strickland’s dream of passenger trains linking Ohio’s major cities survived a key legislative hearing yesterday, but the closeness of the vote could signal trouble ahead.
In a strict party-line vote, a panel of lawmakers authorized the Ohio Department of Transportation to spend $25 million on an in-depth study of environmental and engineering issues related to running conventional-speed passenger trains from Cleveland to Cincinnati, with stops in Columbus and Dayton.
The four Democrats on the Controlling Board voted yes. The three Republicans voted no.
The narrow margin could be perilous to the train plan. Supporters of the idea need to pick up at least one more vote on the seven-member panel to spend any money on upgrading tracks or buying rail cars. Lawmakers voted last year to require a 5-2 supermajority on the panel to approve any capital expenditures on train service.
The $25 million study – which will look at train schedules, interaction between freight and passenger trains, environmental consequences and track design – is expected to take about nine months.
3C moving forward…for now
April 20, 2010 by John
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You should see the absolutely ignorant things being said about this plan on the local level in each district:
http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/04/20/gop-ohio-house-candidates-discuss-topics
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The federal government has offered Ohio $400 million to build a light rail system from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Both Quinn and Ruhl are in opposition of the plan.
“It’s wrong. Why do we need it?” Quinn said. “It’s $400 million of our own money for something we don’t even want. It doesn’t even come to Mount Vernon.”
“I’ve been against it from the very beginning,” said Ruhl, who sits on the state’s transportation and infrastructure committee. “As far as I know, it’s not going to get any funding.”
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I don’t doubt that similar conversations are happening all over the state. It’s a pity the newspaper got it wrong and called it a light rail system. And the insular arguments from candidate Quinn are frankly offensive – that 70/71 interchange plan doesn’t come to Mount Vernon either, should we oppose that? There’s no convincing these people to remove their heads from their asses.
Thanks Ryan for the extra level of depression. The future of the line seems to be in great jeopardy thanks to politicians putting politics ahead of what is best for the state, particularly the downtown business districts of Ohio’s four biggest cities and the hundreds of thousands of people who would use this annually.
To put is mildly, I’m extremely disappointed in the myopia of the Republicans on the Controlling Board. I think a small majority of Ohioans want this to be built. Once gas hits $4 or $5 a gallon, I think they will be sorry that they take the $400 of federal money with the incredibly small local match to make this happen.
I can’t express how pessimistic I am about Ohio’s future with decision-makers like this in office. It makes me want to stay in Chicago indefinitely. I’m going to start looking at real estate ads.
Any time, John. To be fair, Ruhl is rather incompetent. I hold out hope for some more intelligent Republicans to make up their own minds. The presumptive next state senator from my district was quoted as saying the following:
“Light rail is an upgrade to the Amish horse and buggy,” Collier said. “They are willing to give us $400 million to build it, but we have to say no. Any time you get shekels you are going to get shackles. It will take $28 million a year to subsidize it. … We need to say no to far more of those [situations].”
“Where do you get $400 million? It’s printed, borrowed or coming from you,” Petros said. “We have to stop giving them our money in the first place and exert our state’s constitutional rights.”
Collier is brighter than Ruhl, but still won’t budge on this issue. I doubt he’s even considered the alternatives. It does make one want to consider moving. Good luck on your real estate search!
and i’m depressed about ohio once more…i share your thoughts john.
my wife and i are trying to decide between staying in portland and moving back to columbus to be close to family. this doesn’t help ohio’s chances.
i know generalizations are bad, but is ohio ever going to come out of its coma? from my 30 year old perspective, it feels like the state’s stuck back in the 1950′s. to use a sports metaphor, i love woody hayes, but we can’t always live in a three yards and a cloud of dust world.
i don’t understand why SOME people don’t see this as a valuable mode of transportation.
ryan’s exactly right: “that 70/71 interchange plan doesn’t come to Mount Vernon either, should we oppose that?”
Justin, if Ohio were stuck back in the 50s, we would already have 3C rail. That didn’t disappear until 1979.
I am just about 30, myself. I sometimes find myself wishing I were back home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania–where I could have caught a train to Philadelphia numerous times throughout the day. I’m in Mount Vernon now, so there is zero chance the train will ever come here again, but if 3C were to become reality, I would at least be able to take advantage of it and whatever enlarged system came after. But I have to question my long-term commitment to this state when funding for a rudimentary system is handed to us on a silver platter, only to be turned away because the annual subsidy (on par with the statewide pothole-filling budget) is deemed too high.
For a term paper assignment I wrote a (lengthy) political plan on how one might get 3C passed. I’d be interested in any comments. http://wp.me/pLFz1-3f
Will they be discussing 3C at the Cbustransit meeting on Wednesday? http://cbustransit.com/index.php?news&nid=7
There’s a reprinted NYT article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 25th, “The Humble Bus Takes Off” discussing the increased short hop (less than 4 hour) bus use led by 18 to 35 year olds, with online ticketing, and wiki and AC outlets on express routes. Don’t wait till Ohio embraces rail to dump the automobile kingdom.