From The Lansing State Journal
High-speed rail projects that will allow passenger trains traveling between Chicago and Detroit to reach speeds of 110 mph along some stretches of track and shorten travel time by 30 minutes also will result in about 1,000 construction jobs and help push Michigan’s economy forward, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday.
Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, Mayor Dave Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder joined LaHood at an Amtrak station in Detroit, where he announced about $200 million in federal funds for the state.
The money is part of about $400 million being spent on high-speed rail service in the Midwest. It includes $196.5 million for track rehabilitation and upgrades to signals along the 235-mile route between Detroit and Chicago. Another $2.8 million will be used for planning of a new station in Ann Arbor.
“This is a big deal,” LaHood said. “America’s ready for high-speed rail. Nothing can stand in the way of it. We’re going to create a huge economic corridor between Chicago and Detroit and beyond.”
The federal government has awarded $2 billion to 15 states and Amtrak for 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects as President Barack Obama has sought to make creation of a national network of high-speed trains a signature project of his administration. He has said he wants to make fast trains accessible to 80 percent of Americans within 25 years.
Midwest upgrades
In the Midwest, the line from Chicago to St. Louis also will be upgraded, and trains will be able to reach high speeds on 220 miles of track between Dwight, Ill., and Joliet, Ill.
The line eventually could stretch from Detroit into Canada, said LaHood, adding that the government also is buying new passenger cars.
LaHood praised Bing’s leadership and Snyder for his support of the project. Bing is a Democrat, and Snyder is a Republican.
“There are no Republican or Democrat bridges. There are no Republican or Democratic roads,” LaHood said. “Transportation has always been bipartisan.”
The money became available after Florida’s governor rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for high-speed trains between Tampa and Orlando over concerns about long-term operating costs. Other states then entered bids for Florida’s money.
Michigan already has received more than $161 million for high-speed rail and $40 million for Amtrak stations in Troy, Battle Creek and Dearborn.
“This occasion, a few years ago, none of us could have dreamed of,” Bing said. “Thanks, Washington, D.C., for believing in Detroit.”
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the funding and projects are about creating jobs and “a system that is going to put people to work.”
Michigan has had one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates for years.
‘Piling’ on debt
But state Rep. Tom McMillin criticized the federal award to Michigan.
“If President Obama and Congress insist on piling more debt on our kids and grandkids, they should at least let us decide how to spend it,” said McMillin, a Republican from Rochester Hills. “We need to fill potholes and improve roads, not shave 50 minutes off a train ride from Detroit to Chicago.”