Belvidere leaders begin to plan for Amtrak making a stop in the City of Murals.

At a campaign stop in Rockford on March 30, 2010 Governor Quinn announced that the Amtrak route decision had been changed in favor of going through Belvidere and providing a stop. The Governor had previously announced that $60 million would be allocated from the Illinois Capital Program for the rail infrastructure upgrades along the route from Chicago to Dubuque. Transportation, political and economic development leaders throughout the Rock River Valley say this was welcome news for the region and was made possible through the bipartisan support of area elected officials in the General Assembly. The grass roots campaign of the Blackhawk Express, led by the Rockford and Belvidere Chambers of Commerce, also provided needed support for the route decision.

Dave Taylor, chairman of the Northern Illinois Commuter Transportation Initiative believes the route through Belvidere will have a significant impact on the economic state of the Boone County area.

Amtrak will bring visitors from both the east and the west and those people are likely to spend on goods and services in Belvidere and Boone County," said Taylor. "By having more public transportation we become a more desirable location to attract new business.  These factors all contribute to a more vibrant business climate, which increases employment and builds on the tax base, which in turn will boost our overall economy."

 Mark Williams, executive director of Growth Dimensions believes that Amtrak's presence will open the door for additional transportation options that would have a positive impact on the future of the economic well-being in the region.

 "Amtrak will re-introduce the opportunity for commuter rail on the same line in the future," said Williams. "This will create long-term economic development gains through planning and development.”

 The Governor has not released the bonding authority to raise the needed $60 million capital, but bond proceeds are expected to be available later in 2010.  With a 2-year construction timeframe for the track work, rail signaling systems and grade crossing protection projects the potential initiation of Amtrak revenue service is late in 2012. The dollars to fund the rail station development will have to come from local sources.  The City of Belvidere and the City of Rockford are preparing proposal documents and are moving to secure the necessary design services quickly. Each of the stations will have a separate design schedule and may have a different design team. Over the next month, the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning (RMAP) Policy Committee will be reviewing funding opportunities available for the local commitment.

"It has been said a well-planned train station is one of the best investments a community can make as it seeks to expand its appeal for greater tourism and business opportunities," stated Belvidere Mayor and Chairman of the RMAP policy committee, Fred Brereton. "Whether used by tourists or local residents, well-planned train stations have proven to be fertile economic ground." 

The City of Belvidere will look to hire an architect to help develop a scope of work and an estimate from which funding sources and amounts can be determined.

Please click here to view the City of Belvidere's Downtown Transit Oriented Development Plan.

The Rockford City Council approved a purchase of 5 acres of land from the Canadian National Railroad, which includes the old Illinois Central train station and is where the new downtown train station can be constructed.  The City of Rockford now has control of all of the land that they will need for the station site work, parking and landscaping of the downtown site.

Rockford officials are also looking to develop a train station near Alpine Road.  The east-side land is held by private owners and is not currently within the corporate limits of the City.  The City and the land owner are working on an annexation agreement that would allow a parcel to be provided for the train station site.

Preliminary planning work for the stations, mostly from the NICTI Project Management Team, has provided basic cost estimates for station design elements, such as site work, parking, platform, canopy and buildings.  The Illinois Department of Transportation and Amtrak will be providing design guidelines that each local design team will use to develop final plans and specifications.  More information may be obtained from the NICTI website (www.nicti.net) or from the RMAP website (www.rmapil.org).  Questions should be directed to Steve Ernst, RMAP Executive Director, at 815-964-RMAP.