The new effort to push for passenger rail service.

And making sure seniors are not marginalized in the city's.

It has been an effort that has gathered steam, then lost momentum.

Bringing passenger rail service from Chicago to the Quad Cities has been a priority among some business and tourism officials for more than a decade, and a new push is being made targeting state lawmakers who are looking for new transportation initiatives that will benefit the state.

A new Rock Island County Passenger Rail Committee has been formed and is trying to gain new momentum as quickly as possible.

County Board Chairman Richard Bronk leads the new group, and former Illinois Deputy Transportation Secretary Doug House is on the committee.

They both joined us to talk about the possibilities.

Hey, chairman.

Brooke.

First off, thank you both for joining us.

Mr.

chairman, you're in charge of this this committee.

Why now?

Well, with the amount of of discussion that's taking place in Springfield this year related to transportation, transit in particular, it's, possibly the best opportunity that this project has had in years.

I mean, it's really stalled.

I mean, everyone thought maybe ten years ago that it was on the front burner and that passenger rail was coming to Moline.

We did the Sears building.

Created the, the chance for, terminal on the on the first floor, of a bridge over the, rail line to make sure you get to parking.

I mean, the infrastructure really started on this side, and then it stalled out.

Well, when, as we know, winds can change.

Right?

And that's why it's so important for us to really push forward.

Now, as these as these discussions are taking place and the opportunity exists.

So, Doug, how is your former, head of the not.

Hey, I'm sorry, deputy secretary of Trade.

Deputy secretary, thank you very much.

Y'know, I mean, we know that federal funding probably isn't there.

I mean, Amtrak is what everyone thought would be the operator between Chicago and the Quad Cities.

You talked about, more than a decade ago, there being so much energy that it was on the front burner.

11 years ago, the federal government appropriated, $177 million for this project.

Locally, there's a $16 million investment in constructing a depot.

And several million more for the cross over the track for the parking.

So there's been advanced, project work done there.

Locally, the municipalities along the Iowa interstate have applied for and received funds to help with a quiet zone area and signaling improvements.

Congressman Sorenson was able to assist, and they received Iowa interstate.

With local help, a raised grant for about 21 million for, engineering for the Rock River, Iowa Interstate State Bridge crossing, which is part of that route.

And there have been numerous meetings held both with Iowa Interstate and the Department of Transportation.

So right now, there's been a bill that started in the House.

It went to the Senate and was amended when it was sent back to the House.

They still weren't satisfied with it.

And so they can no longer amend it.

So a new bill will come forward in, we believe, the veto session this fall.

And when it does, we want to make sure that we're still included in it, because the bill that came out of the Senate did have dollars in there.

And you're talking about the state Senate.

You're talking state, the Illinois government.

I want to make that clear.

Yes.

And we've worked very closely with our legislators.

Chamber has identified it as a number one priority.

All of the local municipalities have the economic development groups, the visitors, bureau here locally.

So we have a lot of local support, but we needed to demonstrate that.

And that's what this committee does.

It helps.

It tells the governor that we're doing our work here.

It shows that our legislators are in support of it, that there's local support for it.

And we've been, you know, reaching out.

The other thing that we'd never done before is reach out to Chicago, and we have we've had conversations with the Cook County Board president, chairman, Bronx counterpart there.

They're very interested in it.

They see economic development for them on their end as well.

Mr.

chairman, I mean, there has been repeatedly, especially among the tourist industry and the business community.

The Chamber of Commerce, there's strong support for this.

But as you well know, we're not Chicago.

The money doesn't necessarily come downstate.

Why do you think now could be different?

Well, with all the discussions that are taking place, we're hoping to be able to have people recognize that there's there's benefit not only to our region.

I mean, we're looking at, you know, $300 million in economic impact over roughly a ten year period just for our immediate region, but that there's also benefits for the other communities along the route, as well as the Chicago region.

What's the competition?

I mean, we hear that Rockford is interested in particular with a rail line to Chicago.

I mean, where does the Quad Cities fall in when when other communities probably are just as interested?

Well, I've attended meetings, and community updates for the Rockford line.

And most recently there have been, announcements made that they intend to break ground on 2027 to actually construct that line.

I've been to places where they were going to have their depots and the stops along that route.

This is, the transit, the transit bill that's going through, the legislature creates a unique opportunity.

Some of that funding, they will receive in Rockford.

There is an interest in other communities, not just Quad Cities, but also Peoria, but the way that the routes tie together and the way that they enter into Chicago, it's important that, Quad Cities happen next.

And so it'd be a sequencing between Rockford going first Quad Cities, then perhaps Peoria and so on.

Who would run the air, who would run the railroad locally, the, depot management and the ticket sales and all that will be run by the local Metrolink would manage that on a statewide basis.

It would be the Department of Transportation and a lot of people don't know that, even though Amtrak is a federal agency that, the Department of Transportation in Illinois manages the Midwest program, and they have their headquarters in Chicago.

I've toured that, not just the Union Station there, where they do all of their ticket sales and everything, but they also have, maintenance yard there for all of the locomotives and the passenger cars.

And, there's a lot of detailed work that goes there, but they manage that for the Midwest.

So Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin are all part of, Illinois Department of Transportation.

Well, and when you were with the Department of Transportation and you weren't wearing a Quad Cities hat, what was the feeling about, you know, this type of a route to the Quad Cities outside of the Quad Cities, of course, very popular elsewhere.

Does it have any support?

Yeah, it absolutely does.

We have partners across the state.

I've spoken with, the president or the chairman of the, the, the transportation committee in the Senate.

And, we had a lot of discussions with them.

And as a result of our local, legislators conversations with them, we were able to get, legislation, language within the bill that passed in support of this.

And so that having the chairman of the Transportation Committee and his committee itself support this project demonstrates, you know, statewide support, because those people on that committee come from all over the state.

A lot of them are from Chicago area.

Right.

Likewise.

We've had a recently the with the chairman, had a meeting with the chair of the House committee and her co-chair.

So that's, Representative Eva, Dino Delgado and her co-chair, Kim Buckner.

And they were they sounded very supportive and asked for additional information that I provided them.

And since those conversations going very well, I ask you this in the mildest terms is that it's not going to make money.

It has a lot of advantages to it locally.

It's been estimated, through studies that it'll provide about $30 million annually for, economic development in the Quad Cities and create about 825 jobs.

We believe that it'll be much more than that and do better than that.

There's additional benefits to it.

The ease of the transportation.

We're talking about a half an hour less traffic.

My wife and I both just took the train from Galesburg, to a Cubs game last week.

Had Wi-Fi on it.

Had had a, a food car where you could go to the car and purchase something to eat.

It was the ease of transportation.

I drive to Chicago myself frequently, and I know you visited it as well as the chairman.

And the traffic is.

It's crazy.

Chicago transit people don't realize, that in Chicago, they move a million and a half people every single day from the suburbs into downtown Chicago and back out again to commute for work.

The advantages for us is, high tech jobs are growing.

We have this, new tech center that the governor has been working on for quantum, things.

And, the people that would like to live here and commute because jobs now are, a long distance commute.

Many people are working from home and spending a couple of days a week in the office.

We think there's a huge opportunity for that.

The housing and things here are much more affordable than they are in the city of Chicago.

Taxes are much lower here than they are, in that region.

So you see it also not not so much as, a quad Cities for Christmas.

We're going downtown Chicago type of train.

You see it as perhaps a commuter train for people who work in a city.

It's a much different writer.

There's several routes that they've talked about, but the direct route from here, it provides a lot more opportunities for people in this area to work in that region.

And, and do that type of commuter thing or do day trip types of things.

Do you think it would, Mr.

Chairman?

Do you think it would be used to a great extent by people in the quad Cities to get East to Chicago or any of the cities along the line?

And if you do, or are they not already going to Galesburg or Princeton taking Amtrak?

I think the ease of being able to get on a train here in the, in the the Quad City area itself and go straight into Chicago, I think would be, a huge benefit.

I think that that would attract a lot more people.

You know, I myself, you know, you go into Chicago.

I don't drive Chicago.

I park the car for the weekend.

I walk, I Uber, you know, that's that's what we do.

You know, so just that ease of transportation, being able to get on practically in your backyard, take it into Chicago.

You know, you don't have that 45 minute drive down to Galesburg going to talk about going back in history.

I mean, originally the idea.

Well, not really, but one of the plans was not the end of the Quad Cities, but end at Iowa City, and be a University of Iowa hub and then ultimately to Des Moines.

And we're going way back to the Branstad administration.

They said, Iowa, we don't want to be a part of it.

I mean, does that at all, you think hurt quantity chances because we don't have the continuing push on to Iowa City and on to Des Moines.

I think that this is a good first step toward that.

I think that, you know, when we're able to, make this happen with our partners and the support of the legislature and the governor's office, I think that eventually we will see it push through to Iowa City, to Des Moines, to Omaha.

And I think that as it continues to push across the Midwest, I think that benefit to our region and the other regions along the route is just going to grow.

Doug, the investment in the Quad Cities is already there.

I mean, as you pointed out, I mean, the building is there.

The terminal is there.

And then it was my understanding is that the rail improvements were what was really hindering, the completion of this idea.

Tell me about the process right now.

I mean, how far does the rail go now and how much further does it have to go?

All the rail currently exists, but it doesn't exist at the standards of maintenance to support passenger rail.

We no longer be be hauling simply livestock or other, goods.

All of the freight on the freight trains that block us.

Yes.

And so I think currently it's a class for and and we need it to come up to a class one.

So there's improvements within the existing infrastructure.

Idot had looked at a phased in approach in it that was part of the some of the ongoing discussions with Iowa interstate.

And so, you know, the work that we're doing now is simply about demonstrating that local support, getting additional dollars into place.

We're really, helping, the legislature and demonstrating that there is commitment here to do this.

And it it removes one of the obstacles from people who, said, well, there's a delta in the amount that you have and the amount that you need, and, you know, those types of things, it we expect us to really free up the discussion, and it the chairman was absolutely right that, when Federal Rail, identified this route, the primary route that we would like to have between Chicago and Quad Cities, they identified it as the number one route for expansion in their 40 year plan going forward.

That plan then went from here to Iowa City to Des Moines to Omaha.

And each time you add a leg to that, it becomes more and more viable.

The number of riders, number of people using it.

Certainly Iowa City has a big draw with their university hospitals and their university, schools and and so on.

And so, this is the first step is, is the ability to tell the story to state lawmakers, which is what one of the big prime, goals of this committee is.

Do you feel that the quad Cities, the work that's been done, that you are well poised, that you have a story to tell that's compelling and that you believe that you're going to be able to win over some of these people who have never driven to the Quad Cities, let alone, flown in or ride the rails.

I do, I do and, you know, as Doug had mentioned, we've we've already had some conversations with some legislators.

Very well received.

You know, they understand, the benefit of, of the, of the project, not only to our immediate region, but but the various other regions, as we had mentioned.

So, yeah, I'm confident that that, it's, it's being well received.

It will continue to be well received and, and, you know, they'll take it from there.

The governor's been 100% on board with this plan.

Since passing the, the transportation bill that he did in 2019, he appropriated at that time $225 million for this project.

The federal government has committed, $177 million of that of which about 70, 88, 70 to $80 million still remain.

Locomotives have been purchased for this route.

Passenger cars have been ordered and many delivered.

More of them still to be received.

That federal grant has been extended to July of 2026.

So it was a major move.

Major move.

So that's a big deal for this project going forward.

So your optimism is there.

Oh, absolutely.

I believe this is in place.

We just need to move forward.

No, no.

I'm not going to, mislead anyone that you know this this is a next step.

This isn't.

You know, if we get this done and we're included in this bill, that it's done and we'll see a train tomorrow.

The current trains that have been purchased, Amtrak is utilizing them and exercising them within their current system.

So they're not just sitting somewhere waiting to be used.

The track would still need updates.

And, that engineering has been ongoing.

Many, of the different needs, there's side track that would have to be constructed because the freight line will continue to Iowa.

Interstate will continue a whole freight, and there would be a a side track, depending on scheduling where the where the train would wait periodically for the other train to go by that type of thing.

So this is still a number of years in the making, but we're very optimistic about it.

Our thanks to Rockland County Board Chairman Richard Bronk and former Illinois Deputy Transportation Secretary Doug House.

Part of the newly created Rock Island County Passenger Rail Committee.

Still to come, a safety net for seniors who may be forgotten and neglected.

But first, the events that make the cities a better place to live.

Thanks to visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

Join us while we explore how the arsenal can drive tourism growth and regional pride in the QC.

Then Tiffany's is transforming their patio into an Octoberfest tent.

You won't want to miss it.

Next, hear about the eerie legends that haunt the surrounding neighborhood of the German-American Heritage Center.

Then enjoy Field of Dreams in a league of their own.

At the drive in theater.

And finally get ready to paint a beautiful autumn lakeside masterpiece at Jenny's Boxcar.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar at visit Quad cities.com.

Low income seniors are being called the Forgotten Generation.

They could be living in solitary conditions or in less than ideal homes.

Senior Resource Partners was created by Annika Honaker to be an advocate for seniors in the cities.

And the group's seniors Expo is coming up September 26th at the Golden Leaf Banquet Center.

That's next to big River Bowling on Kimberly Road at Elmore in Davenport.

Annika Honaker joined us to talk about the event, and also the reason why it's needed.

So this is year four.

Why is, senior resources Partners doing this?

Because there's a need.

There's a need.

There was an expo here locally for many years, multiple times a year.

The company that did that, they lost their staffing.

And so throughout the pandemic, we didn't have any any expos or any like large resource centers for seniors.

And so the need was there, and I've been running with it now for years.

When you say there's a need, what does that mean?

And when when it comes to seniors, I mean, what specific need is there?

The specific need is the fact that seniors don't know what's out there for them.

They can watch commercials.

They can see those types of things in word of mouth.

But when it comes to having a need for like their bathroom to be redone so they can stay home longer, they don't know which company is legit or which one is going to be a scam, and those types of things.

So when they come to the expo, they can get verified businesses face to face time with them.

And that's a big deal, huge deal in the senior population.

And let's talk about that for a second, because, seniors are really targeted by scammers.

Yeah.

How will that be addressed at the expo?

We're not going to have any, like, speaking engagements this year, but I have seniors that call throughout the year because with senior resource partners where a year long phone call away essentially.

So you just give us a call and verify information and we can do that for you.

Have a lot of seniors that get emails or calls from their grandkids.

And now with I, it's not their grandkids.

It's voice operating scams.

And they don't know the difference because I is that good?

Yeah.

Yeah.

The emphasis on the expo though is and correct me if I wrong on health a lot with the screenings as well as vaccines, and then other personal things.

But we'll talk about that in a second.

The important part is the health expo part of it?

Yes and no.

The resource exposure is the biggest part.

The health screenings, the haircuts and the vaccine clinic are big draws for people because it makes it a one stop shop.

That's really the goal, is to make it a one stop shop for seniors.

And we were talking earlier about, you know, the vaccines, of course, are important.

The health screenings are vitally important, but the haircuts are a huge deal.

Yeah.

Why do you think that is?

I don't have an answer for that.

I just know that people like free things.

But I'll tell you what.

The haircuts are our biggest thing.

Seniors come in.

We have family members of seniors that while the seniors are shopping, essentially, they get their haircuts.

And so it's great exposure for the students that are doing them.

And I think with the seniors, it's that physical touch that they get with the haircut.

It seems small to like you and I, but a lot of seniors are isolated.

And so that connection of sitting in the chair and getting that physical touch, I think makes a huge difference.

And let's talk about that because, you, had started as just putting the expo together kind of a one.

I know a multi-day work, but a one day expo.

Yeah.

And your organization really has grown to a 365 day.

Correct.

A year.

Almost.

What would you describe yourself as?

Is it is it kind of a safety net for seniors?

Well, what I describe myself as that's a great question.

Sometimes it depends on the day.

Yeah, I think so.

I was raised by my grandparents.

And so for me, I have a very special place in my heart for seniors and seniors get taken advantage of.

They are often overlooked and they're lonely.

And if I'm able to provide a service to them that gets them out of their homes, that gets them free things, that provides safety in their homes, then I'm all about it.

So yeah, absolutely.

It definitely started as a one day event and now we're we're growing, which is fantastic.

Yeah.

And it's both sides of the river.

It is both sides.

I mean is that difficult to be able to to because, you know, Iowans are Iowans and Illinoisans are Illinois and Illinois is it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's hard.

I mean, there are seniors that still, even with a brand new bridge, won't cross it.

And so we're trying to navigate, you know, when we first started, we did to Illinois.

We did Illinois twice one year, Illinois one year Illinois.

And now we've done Iowa twice.

So moving forward we'd like to do two events a year.

And then one would be Illinois, one would be Iowa.

So we're kind of getting everybody in the same year explained to me the problems with the isolation issue, because that's one of the things that at the Expo, as well as all the work that you do throughout the year, you're going to have interactive games.

You can have things like that.

Is just that, that social one on one that a lot of times seniors are missing and that could be, let's be honest, debilitating.

Yeah.

It's very debilitating.

And, you know, as sad as it is, suicide rates are escalating with the senior population and people don't think about that.

They think about that as a younger population issue.

And it's not.

Seniors are alone.

They raise their kids, they have empty nest, they lose their spouse.

And they go from having these families to not having really anyone kids move away, kids move out of state, those types of things.

And so doing this and I also host senior adult prom in the spring.

And so doing things like that, events that bring back memories and bring back socialization is huge for seniors.

It's just I love it, I love it.

And tell me a little bit more about how you're able to find the seniors that need help.

I mean, obviously they have to come to you.

Yeah, but, you know, as when we're talking about isolation issues and we're talking about people who have a great deal of pride, they may not want to seek any help.

I mean, how do you break down that barrier?

Because I was raised with my grandparents, I kind of have I don't want to say tips and tricks, but seniors are people, too.

And I think a lot of times that we forget that there's wisdom there.

And for me, I just have conversations with people all the time.

And a lot of people, seniors at least think that I'm their granddaughter in some form, and that breaks barriers because they're still people.

And I don't look at seniors as a demographic that's forgotten when it comes to me.

I will remember them.

And so I go to different events.

I go to the living facilities.

Word of mouth is huge in the senior community.

So you help one, you help five is really what I think.

And churches big like huge investment into churches because that's where seniors are.

That's important to them.

So I go where they are.

Once you reach a certain person, I mean, is it important for you just to keep with that person?

It depends.

So with senior resource partners, we do independent patient advocacy.

And with that, you know, we're helping them translate medical documents.

We're going to appointments with them.

We're connecting with their doctors and walking them through difficult medical diagnosis.

And with that you're touching them.

You're touching the people that they work with.

If they're still, you know, in working age, you you make those connections because you're helping them in ways that no one else has.

And so you kind of become part of the family.

And so with that, I think they talk about more.

They talk about you more when you're helping them.

And so I just I do what I can and they open doors and that's great.

And once again, the expo is coming up.

It is next Friday a week from today.

So what would you say to a senior who's just not sure if this is something for them?

The it's for everybody.

It's free.

If you like free stuff it's for you.

I mean, come on down.

I think what it is really, it's just it's a day for you to get out and see what else is out there.

You know, we have everything from bath companies to health and wellness.

We have providers offices coming.

We have doctor's offices coming.

We have, private fiduciary.

You know, there are some people that just can't manage money as they age.

We have somebody that does that independently.

We have insurance agents, Medicare open enrollments coming.

You got Medicare questions.

This is the place to be.

It's a non pressure environment.

It's free.

You can get a haircut and you can get your Covid vaccine.

You get your flu shot for the season.

And all of that is covered through your insurance.

So come on down.

There's no no fear, no pressure.

Our thanks to Annika Honaker of Senior Resource Partners 250 years ago, it took a spark to create a nation.

As America marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we look at what spark people in the cities have that has helped make our area a better place to live.

She air is an organization that tries to help refugees and migrants assimilate into life in America, something our founding fathers knew a thing or two about as well.

We asked its executive director, Amy to Haven what led her to be a part of this effort.

What is her civic spark?

Choose the air.

We are not a religious organization.

For me, I am a follower of Jesus.

He is my Lord and Savior, and he tells us that we are to fight and be the voice for the voiceless.

And that is what my driving desire is.

There are people in the world that need help and don't have the voice to do that.

I've worked with people with disabilities, and various degrees, and I have a servant heart.

I really feel that it's my responsibility to help those, that are vulnerable and need help and anything that I can do to service them and help them feel a little bit more comfortable is what drives me.

Our thanks to Ur executive director Amy de Haven.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on the city's.