Woodford County has been awarded a grant of nearly $1.6 million from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to acquire flood-prone properties along the Illinois River and
convert the land to open space. This project will reduce the hazard of flooding to human life and
lessen the costs of property damage and community response.

TCRPC will be working with Woodford County to administer this project, which is slated
to begin soon. If you have any questions, please contact Nick Hayward at 673-9330 or nhayward@tricountyrpc.org.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is hosting a public information meeting for the Illinois State Rail Plan.  IDOT is seeking public input on the current and future passenger and freight rail needs within the state.  The meeting will be held at the Peoria Public Library downtown location on Monday, February 27 from 4-7pm. 

For more information, visit the project website. 

During the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission's monthly meeting on Thursday, February 23, commissioner's unanimously voted to reconsider an IDOT study for a temporary bus shuttle from Peoria to Bloomington.  The study will be discussed in further detail at the commission's March 29th meeting, where they will subsequently vote on whether to approve the study.

The commission's decision to reconsider the study came out of TCRPC's second annual legislative session on February 17.  Senator Dave Koehler agreed to set up a meeting with Governor Pat Quinn on the subject of passenger rail if the commission agreed to reconsider the IDOT bus study.  According to Koehler and State Representative Don Moffitt, the bus study would serve as a stepping stone that could potentially build momentum for rail. 

Last Friday, TCRPC held a meeting with federal and state lawmakers.  At this legislative session, Tri-County commissioners made it clear that passenger rail remains a top priority for the commission.  For more information, please see the following news articles:

Peoria Journal Star

A passenger rail connection for the Peoria area remains among the highest legislative priorities in both Springfield and Washington, D.C., for the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission.

At least one local lawmaker is promising to help local officials take that message to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, commission members heard Friday at their annual meeting with the region's legislative delegation.

"We want the Peoria area to be on the radar," commissioner Dean Grimm said, bemoaning the fact that a metropolitan region of 350,000 people didn't have a rail connection but that, for example, "our friends in Kewanee with 10,000 people just got a new Amtrak station."

(SNIP)

Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, said he would work to set up a meeting with Quinn on the topic. But he also suggested that commission members might want to reconsider their recent vote to reject taking a look at running a bus from the Peoria area to link up with Amtrak in Bloomington, Princeton or Galesburg. He said after the meeting that doing so could potentially help justify the need for rail.

WMBD Radio

A recent Tri-County Regional Planning Commission meeting with federal and state legislators triggered the "hot button" of rail service in Peoria.  After an IDOT study revealed it's wasn't currently feasible for a Peoria to Normal train, IDOT offered to pay for a study to consider a temporary bus shuttle to the Twin Cities.  Tri-County narrowly vote that down.

But, during the legislative meeting, lawmakers sugggested Tri-County might want to reconsider.  It seems IDOT looks at a bus as a stepping stone to future passeneger rail.  State Senator Dave Koehler says it's a matter of seeing if there is interest.  Some Tri-County members reasoned, people would not board a bus, they would just drive to either Normal or Galesburg to board Amtrak.

Koehler says he understands, but it might be better to work on filling a shuttle bus to need for Amtrak in Peoria. Peoria is the largest metropolitan region in Illinois without direct Amrtrak access.

IDOT/DPIT has announced the 2012 Call for Projects for CVP (Consolidated Vehicle Procurement).

Through the CVP Program, IDOT/DPIT makes grants to municipalities, mass transit districts, counties, and private, non-profit organizations for ramp and lift equipped paratransit vehicles.  Funding for these grants comes from various sources, including Federal Transit Administrations (FTA) Section 5309, 5310, 5311, 5316, and 5317 funding programs as well as state resources.

Applications are due to Jill Goforth, the HSTP coordinator by April 6.  As always, all Section 5310 recipients must certify that projects are derived from our local HSTP.

Click here to download the application.

IDOT/DPIT recently announced the call for projects for Section 5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and Section 5317 New Freedom grant programs.  To learn more information about these funding programs and who is eligible to apply, please refer to the HSTP project page. 

Applications are due to Jill Goforth, the HSTP coordinator, by February 25th.  The applications will then be reviewed for completion and voted on for endorsement by the HSTP committee at the Wednesday, March 21st meeting.

• Call for Projects
• 5316 JARC Application
• 5317 New Freedom Application
• Examples of Previously Funded Projects

At Thursday night's TCRPC full commission meeting, board members voted 8-7 against support of a bus feasibility study that would explore options to link Peoria to passenger rail services. 

Though the vote was close, the overwhelming majority of the commission does not believe bus service is the best option for Peoria.  Instead, the argument centered around whether a bus study would be a good stepping stone towards securing passenger rail in the future.  According Tri-County chairman Mike Phelan, "We need rail, but we don’t want a bus as an option."  The majority of the commission decided taking a stand on the issue would send a message out that Peoria will not accept bus as an alternative to rail. 

The commission will continue to advocate for rail and will begin to communicate with lawmakers in Springfield on this issue. 

Please see the following news articles for more information:

Peoria Journal Star

WMBD- 1470

WCBU FM

TCRPC has partnered with several local organizations, including Peoria Park District’s Youth and Outreach Intervention Division (ELITE), to survey 1,500 community members on their community values and experiences within the Tri-County area. The effort is part of Brilliant. Bright. Community, a project that seeks to plan for a future in Central Illinois that utilizes the talents and skills of all people to create a prosperous, diverse and rich community that endures for generations to come.

In the next few weeks, TCRPC, ELITE, and other volunteers will be personally contacting each of the 1,500 randomly selected residents to ask for their voluntary participation in this survey. 

TCRPC is still looking for volunteers and interns to help with the delivery of surveys.  If you would like to help out, or if you are interested in learning more about this effort, please contact Melissa Eaton at 309-673-9796 x232 or meaton@tricountyrpc.org.

TCRPC has been named a finalist for a placemaking grant from ArtPlace, a private-public collaboration of various top foundations, federal agencies and national banks.  Finalists were chosen for their potential to have a transformative impact on community vibrancy and their ability to create a sense of place using art.

If selected, TCRPC will receive financial support in converting downtown Peoria’s Fulton Plaza, an under-utilized pedestrian park, into a vibrant public space that attracts and inspires residents and visitors through locally-influenced public art and urban design. 

ArtPlace expects to distribute $15 million towards various projects across the nation in 2012.  This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May.

TCRPC is seeking proposals to perform selective brush clearing on IDOT owned property in Peoria. Please see the RFP here. 

Contact Jim Webb at 309-673-9796 ext. 257 with any questions.