Champaign — Guideway Proposal Threatened

Rail Transit Online, March 2004

A $178-million proposal for a streetcar or guided bus line linking downtown Champaign and Urbana and the congested Campustown area of the University of Illinois has been turned down by the Champaign city council on a 7-2 vote.  Although the council’s action is seen as damaging to the proposal, votes are still pending by the Urbana city council, the university and the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD).  Fixed guideway was selected as the locally preferred alternative late last year as part of a $500,000 alternative analysis study conducted by Washington Infrastructure Services Inc. and four other firms.  “I'm disappointed,” MTD Executive Director William Volk told the News-Gazette.  “This is a very complicated issue.  I don't read this as a rejection of the whole concept.  I heard a number of people comment that the council has a number of other priorities.”  Champaign city council members said their constituents were overwhelmingly opposed to building such an expensive system, although several lawmakers believe it might be appropriate for the Campustown area.  One council member said she received numerous calls and e-mails and none supported the streetcar, instead calling on the city to improve other services such as police, fire and libraries.  If the project is approved by the other jurisdictions, the alternative analysis will be forwarded to the Federal Transit Administration, which will decide if the proposal has merit.  If it is recommended, the MTD will attempt to obtain federal funding for preliminary engineering.  The entire process, including completion of preliminary engineering, could require up to five years.