If the federal government provides grants for developing Peoria-to-Chicago passenger rail through LaSalle County, it will require a 20% local match. The Illinois Department of Transportation says it will cover half of that local match. Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich says that’s a big deal–taking up to $300 million of the burden away from local communities and showing how serious the state is.
Urich provided an update at a meeting the North Central Illinois Council of Governments hosted at Illinois Valley Community College last night. Developing the passenger rail service could take ten or more years.