Rockford Intermodal Station TIGER II Grant

Summary

The City of Rockford is located in northwestern Illinois, approximately 90 miles from downtown Chicago via Interstate 90. Rockford is also connected to Chicago by rail, however, Amtrak passenger service between Rockford and Chicago ended nearly 30 years ago. During the past decade, various organizations, local governmental agencies, and residents have joined together to explore the feasibility of extending commuter rail service from Chicago to Rockford. As a result, the Illinois Department of Transportation has partnered with the City of Rockford to construct a multimodal passenger station to integrate the residents of the Rockford metropolitan area with bus, rail, and vehicular transportation while providing a new alternative transportation mode for travel to Chicago and ultimately to Dubuque, Iowa.

Project

The proposed multimodal site will incorporate an abandoned industrial site, the original Illinois Central Railroad (ICRR) passenger station, and a warehouse. The station will connect pedestrians, bicycles, taxis, passenger vehicles, intercity buses, charter buses, and airport shuttles.  The Rockford Multimodal Station is intended to be the catalyst for the redevelopment of the Downtown and South Rockford and is hoped to spur the creation of transit-oriented development (TOD) with a mixed land use of residential and commercial developments.

Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC (KEG) served as a subconsultant to URS Corporation for the preparation of a $10 million grant application under the US Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery discretionary grant program (TIGER II). The grant application included an analysis of economic benefits, environmental sustainability, contribution to community livability, safety, and innovation. A cost/benefit ratio was developed to further quantify project benefits. KEG also prepared a Categorical Exclusion to document the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Although the project was not selected for funding in this round of grants, the completed application forms the basis for pursuing future funding opportunities for this much-needed project.