Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Department of Public Service to contribute funding to support activities related to the Columbus to Chicago Passenger & Freight Rail Improvement Project administered by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC).
Presently, the City of Columbus is the only major city in Ohio and the largest city in the country without passenger rail service; however, a report prepared by Transportation Economic & Management Systems in 2013 found that a high-performance passenger rail serving the Columbus to Chicago corridor is both feasible and economically beneficial and could operate without annual government subsidies. Since that time, MORPC has been working to garner support for the Passenger & Freight Rail Improvement Project, which would establish an intercity passenger rail service traveling speeds up to 110 miles per hour and making 12 daily trips between Columbus and Chicago with Ohio stops in Marysville, Kenton, and Lima, and Indiana stops in Fort Wayne, Warsaw, Plymouth, Valparaiso, and Gary.
Pursuant to that effort, the City has agreed to contribute $250,000.00 to support the completion of an Alternatives Analysis and Tier One Environmental Impact Study (Tier I EIS) required by the Federal Railroad Administration for approval of intercity, high-speed passenger rail corridors. The development of the Columbus to Chicago corridor is estimated to create the equivalent of 26,800 full-time jobs; $2.6 billion in joint economic development opportunities for corridor communities; and $7.1 billion of increased output for corridor businesses over the 30-year life of the project, the construction of which is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2023. The estimated cost to construct the project is $1.285 billion.
2. FISCAL IMPACT
Funding in the amount of $250,000.00 is available in the Street and Highway Improvement Non-Bond Fund within the Department of Public Service. An amendment to the 2017 Capital Im...
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