The businesses which might be most inconvenienced by an expanded Third Street corridor facility are a luxury car dealership and the private Sangamo Club. I suppose their clientele have more clout than citizens who use social services near 10th. That those most in need in our community are also the most likely to have services dislocated by rail consolidation is a serious social and environmental justice problem.
Springfield could have spent the past two years discussing the least painful way to accommodate freight traffic resulting from the new Joliet rail terminal. Instead, we have been presented a worst-case scenario with exaggerated postcard images and a steady drumbeat of hyperbole. We have been told a multimodal transit center would bring economic development to 10th Street, but mysteriously, the same facility would bring economic ruin on Third. It’s past time to have a calm discussion about passenger rail without the scare campaign.
Find the rest here.