Consideration of Alternative Transportation Use of a Railroad Corridor Asset: A Team Effort
(Room 200 E)
24 Sep 19
11:30 AM
-
12:00 PM
Tracks:
AREMA Technical Sessions By Date- Engineering Services, AREMA Technical Sessions By Functional Group- Engineering Services, Technical Sessions By Day- Tuesday
The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railroad (CRANDIC) began offering electrified passenger and freight rail service to communities on a 27-mile corridor between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1904. While the railroad was a catalyst in the development of Eastern Iowa, demand for passenger rail service declined and was discontinued in 1953. Today, CRANDIC continues freight rail service over the corridor; however, the short line railroad and its owner (Alliant Energy) initiated preliminary discussions with local and state stakeholders in 2015 to see if there was interest in preserving segments of this Corridor for future public use. CRANDIC and the stakeholders have since engaged HDR in phases of study that consider the feasibility for alternative transportation use of the Corridor. This paper will summarize the approach to stakeholder outreach, screening of transportation alternatives, and assessment of feasibility for passenger rail service over the Corridor. The paper will also highlight the challenges associated with passenger service implementation on this Corridor, including rehabilitation costs of the existing rail infrastructure, examining equipment costs and types, surrounding land use, likely ridership trends, integration, and connectivity with the regional multimodal network, and minimizing potential community impacts. CRANDIC and public stakeholders are currently working to identify a common solution that would preserve a segment of the existing and valuable railroad corridor and benefit the rapidly growing community. The roadmap that will be discussed is one that can be used for other similar, future projects. *Missed this Session or want to view it again? Stop by the VirtualAREMA kiosk located in the Registration area to purchase this product today!