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There’s been much ado about high speed rail through Southeastern Minnesota; with $8 billion in federal dollars hanging in the balance, the state is holding back on choosing a route until a rail study is done this fall. Rochester and the Mayo Clinic have launched an aggressive campaign to link themselves to high speed rail — first, with a bid for $325 million in a freight line bypass.
And although it’s been reported that that $325 million would put Rochester in line for high speed passenger rail, that price tag can be a bit misleading. According to an engineering study conducted for the Mayo Clinic, the $325 million is an estimate for a single track option — one that couldn’t support high speed passenger rail. And, if passenger rail were to eventually follow that route, it would add almost 50 miles to the trip from the Twin Cities to Winona and beyond, when compared to the proposal to simply upgrade the existing Amtrak line along the river.
In an addendum to the engineering study, possible future additions that could accommodate high speed passenger rail were outlined. High speed rail could enter Rochester by another route entirely — via an abandoned former Chicago Great Western railroad alignment, approaching the city from the south/southeast and possibly connecting with the proposed bypass near Simpson. Price tag? Not known. Or, according to the engineering study, high speed rail could travel parallel to the proposed bypass route, requiring another track and much improvement to the infrastructure. A high speed rail track that follows the route of the bypass freight route would have to be on a separate grade from the freight line — either higher or lower, to avoid any conflicts with heavy coal trains. Roadway crossings without over or under passes would also have to be mitigated, according to the report. “Such a scenario would certainly require added attention to reducing the number of at-grade crossings with public roadways along the southern corridor to a minimum,” read the report. “This would be done by grade separating everywhere possible and potentially closing certain roads that have very low traffic counts and are not deemed essential routes for first responders.”
Although the freight bypass has been coupled with high speed passenger rail initiatives, Rochester and the Mayo Clinic have long lobbied to remove the freight lines from downtown — which is exactly what the $325 million would cover. A citizens’ group from Dodge County has been fighting against the proposed bypass for ten years. That group, dubbed the Citizens Against Rochester's Bypass (CARB), says that the latest proposal — which has garnered support from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Representative Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar — the bypass proposal has little to do with making high speed passenger rail a priority. “In fact, this desire to keep railroad out of the city is the principal motivating factor for Rochester’s plan,” said a response from the group to the new proposal. “The overarching desire for a freight bypass is the tail wagging the dog.”
The new freight route would follow portions of the abandoned Chicago Great Western rail beds and stretch from Dover, weave southeast to just south of the Rochester Airport, east to Hayfield, Minn., and then north to Dodge Center, Minn. It would relocate about 48 miles of track at an average of over $6.5 million per mile.
While Rochester’s proposal has gotten buzz on its potential to make a new connection for future high speed rail, proponents of a River Route through Winona fear that Rochester’s bid for passenger rail connection related to the freight bypass could mean that Minnesota misses out on funding possibilities. While the River Route is a shovel-ready project that would merely need upgrades to the current Amtrak route along the river, even Rochester’s 48 miles in freight bypass would take at least four-and-a-half-years to be planned and built. After this year’s $8 billion in federal funding, that pot will shrink to just $1 billion annually.
And adding Rochester to the plans would mean adding plenty of miles to the route, if the bypass route is followed. Heading first to Rochester via the proposed bypass, then north from Dodge Center to St. Paul, would likely top 150 miles, and include a bus ride into Rochester from the airport for Rochester passengers. From Winona to St. Paul following the current Amtrak route is about 105 miles.
Both the city of Winona and Winona County have partnered with cities and counties along the proposed River Route to lobby for the project, and say that Rochester doesn’t have to be left out. After the cost-effective River Route is upgraded to allow for faster and more passenger trains, Rochester could forge a connection to Winona, where passengers could then head southeast to Chicago or north to the Twin Cities. Proponents of the River Route through Winona hope that the $8 billion in funding for high speed passenger rail service will actually result in some passenger rail projects — like the River Route — and not be used up in expensive planning that will take years, and millions, to get going.
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