Consideration of Alternative Transportation of a Railroad Corridor Asset: A Team Effort

摘要

Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (CRANDIC) began offering electrified passenger and freight rail service to communities on an approximately 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. CRANDIC and its owner, Alliant Energy, initiated preliminary discussions with local and state stakeholders in 2015 to determine if there was interest in preserving segments of this corridor for future public and alternative transportation use. CRANDIC and local public stakeholders have since engaged HDR in five phases of study that consider the potential for preservation of the CRANDIC Corridor and the feasibility for alternative transportation use. This paper summarizes the approach to stakeholder outreach, screening of transportation alternatives, and assessment of feasibility for passenger rail service implementation over the Corridor. The paper also highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with passenger rail service implementation on this Corridor, including rehabilitation costs of the existing rail infrastructure, equipment costs and types, surrounding land use, likely ridership trends, integration, and connectivity with the regional multimodal network, minimizing potential community impacts, and funding availability. CRANDIC and stakeholders are currently working to identify a common solution that would preserve a segment of this valuable railroad corridor and benefit one of the fastest growing regions in the Midwest. The roadmap that will be discussed is one that can be used for other similar projects to provide local stakeholders with an understanding of the value of, and benefits associated with, preserving railroad corridors for future public use and for catalyzing collaboration and outreach to determine the feasibility for subsequently adapting these corridors for alternative transportation use.