Mark Bennett, The Tribune Star
mark.bennett@tribstar.com
People probably thought Ike was a hopeless dreamer, too.
But Dwight Eisenhower's vision changed Terre Haute more dramatically than the old brewery owners, Tony Hulman or any mayor. The 34th president gave America its coast-to-coast interstate highway system. Its aorta, I-70, has pulsed millions of travelers and dollars through Terre Haute since its Indiana sector opened in 1967. That motorway transformed the way we shop, dine out, buy gas, build subdivisions, extend city services and lodge our visitors here.
What if President Obama's proposed high-speed passenger rail system connects with Terre Haute? The impact might exceed our expectations, just as I-70 did.
Obama insists an intercity network of 110-mph trains is not a "pie-in-the-sky" idea. Neither is the possibility that it could pass through Terre Haute.
If city, state and congressional leaders get on board, that is.
The initial map of possible high-speed rail routes, which the Obama administration began circulating 10 days ago, features a Chicago hub in the Midwest. The Chicago web extends east through northern Indiana to Toledo and Cleveland; south through Indianapolis and then Louisville; and southeast through Indy and Cincinnati, and then northward to Dayton and Columbus. Another of the 10 nationwide corridors runs from Chicago to St. Louis and then Kansas City.
The map, which dates back to a 1991 high-speed rail concept, noticeably omits an Indianapolis-to-St. Louis link, which would undoubtedly have to bisect Terre Haute. But that doesn't mean it can't be part of the initial $8-billion plan. Somebody simply has to push for it.
"It's not set in stone," Rob Kulat, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said of the grid. "It's all subject to change, based on what the states, or the group of states in the case of the Midwest, may propose."
A group of eight Midwestern governors - dubbed the Midwest Regional Railroad Initiative - already has sent a letter to Obama, asking for a share of the funds from the $787-billion federal stimulus package. That includes Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who will do whatever possible to participate in those funding opportunities, said Jane Jankowski, his spokesperson.
"Are we interested? Sure," said Bruce Childs of the Indiana Department of Transportation. "Would we like to get our fair share? Sure. But we have to wait to see what the qualifications are for getting the funds."
They'll know that by June 17, when the FRA releases its guidelines for selecting the states' high-speed rail ideas. The states then apply for the funds, and the feds will award the project money by late summer, Kulat said.
If Indiana thinks Indianapolis-to-St. Louis should be on the map, the state needs to pitch that idea, Kulat said.
"[The FRA is] going to be judging the applications," he explained, "but the actual projects, themselves, are going to be state-driven."
Indiana's most dedicated high-speed rail advocate thinks the state should put Indy-to-St. Louis on its priority list. And if so, that rocketing train would likely make regular stops in Terre Haute. "I think Terre Haute is important enough to include on even the express routes," said Dennis Hodges of Merrillville, founder of the nonprofit Indiana High Speed Rail Association.
Those stops would expose Terre Haute to a new stream of travelers, just as I-70 did four decades ago. The trains' speed would lure business and leisure travelers. Unpredictable gasoline costs and airport delays have many Americans rethinking rail. "It's become inefficient to drive and take planes, especially at distances of 600 miles or less," said Hodges.
Fast-moving trains relieve roadway congestion, which is a problem on I-70. That travel mode makes ecological sense, too. Rail, even at current speeds, consumes 17 percent less energy per passenger than airlines, and 21.4 percent less than automobiles, according to a 2005 Oak Ridge National Laboratory study for the U.S. Department of Energy.
A national high-speed rail system will "take years to get done," said INDOT's Childs. "This isn't a sprint; it's going to be a marathon."
The commitment of $8 billion of the stimulus funds simply starts the progress. Eisenhower's interstate highways took decades to complete, long after his second term ended in 1961. Decisions made in the late 1950s determined how many links Terre Haute would have to I-70. Today, the community's choice to build just two I-70 exits here seems short-sighted.
Likewise, Terre Haute and the state need to broadly conceive our niche in a future high-speed rail system. Obama's commitment brings the concept closer to a real beginning than at any other time in Hodges' 17 years of activism. National polls show the public favors improved rail travel, too.
"The number of phone calls and e-mail messages coming in are overwhelmingly in favor of rail," Hodges said. "Legislators, who thought it was pie-in-the-sky, are now saying, 'Yes, I think that is something I can support.'"
For Terre Haute to land a spot on the map, the community must show an interest. "It's important for the city fathers to get on board with the rail," Hodges said. "They can make it happen."