Rail meeting kind of flighty

Add comment January 8th, 2008

This morning I went to a meeting of Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen’s rail group.

The chairman introduced the lobbyists and consultants who created the rail authority bill he asked for. The bill was signed into law last year by Gov. Rod Blagojevich after withstanding a veto over some minor language changes the gov demanded.

The rail authority will be a subset of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority. The airport commissioners will apparently be issued engineer caps and train whistles they can wear when they are acting as rail authority commissioners. The airport commissioners can add rail authority members if they want to.

The rail authority has the power to sell bonds for improving railroad tracks and other rail-related infrastructure, such as a possible east side station for a future Amtrak train with a connecting shuttle bus to the airport. The authority could also contract with a railroad to operate trains.

The county’s rail consultants will meet with the airport’s planning and finance committee on Jan. 17 to discuss how the airport authority will add rail to its “to do” list.

Christiansen believes the authority can be an instrument for economic development, especially for companies that want rail links for incoming or outgoing freight.