Peoria Illinoisan

As the city continues to push for the tearing out the only tracks that connect from Downtown, through the heights, and out to North Peoria, there is talk of Amtrack coming here?

Oh the irony.

I really doubt light rail would fly around here. We’re too small of a town. It takes 15 minutes to get practically anywhere in the city, but more than that- we love our cars. I’d ride it for the novelty, but not much more than that. I don’t ride the bus, and I don’t think I’d ride light-rail.

Amtrack, on the other hand, would be very useful. I looked into taking the train up to see the Cubbies, but having to drive an hour to Princeton to get on the train seemed pointless. If it originated here though, I’d be all over it. I hate Chicago traffic. Not so much the traffic, but the traffic JAMS. I love the vibrancy of the city and driving through it, but being locked in a traffic jam on I-55 is nothing short of a nightmare. It’s the sole reason that I don’t go up there more often.

Peoria Charter goes up there, but busses have to sit in traffic jams too. A train from Peoria into downtown Chicago, from which you could walk or take the EL to a Cub game, the museums, shopping, or where-ever sounds great to me. Would you take a train from Peoria to St. Louis to see a Cardinal game or visit the zoo? Certainly! High Speed Rail! Bring it on!

But what benefit would it have for Peoria’s economy? Out of towners could ride it in visit the new Civic Center, Caterpillar Museum and Peoria Museum Square. They might even come for a chance to cycle on the Keller Bike Path.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.