by Bill O'Neill
As of this week, we are officially up and running in the new Wickliffe office, and I encourage all of you to stop by and take a look around. With our new office comes new ideas, and I’d like to take this opportunity to share one of them with you.
This morning I held a press conference in Willoughby where I proposed an investment to bring back commuter rail to Northeast Ohio. I was honored to have State Representative Kenny Yuko, Mentor City Councilman Ed Walsh and other friends at my side as we stood in front of an abandoned rail station and made the case for the rail lines that we both want and need.
This is about getting to work. It’s about creating new jobs, and it’s about finding a cheaper, easier way to get to the ones we have.
In a world where gas is $4 a gallon, our highways are congested and there is no relief in sight, we need forward-thinking solutions from our leadership in Congress. Regional commuter rail for Northeast Ohio needs a champion in Washington, and when I’m elected, I will be that champion.
What most people don’t know is that we already have the blueprint for this proposal. In 2001, the Northeast Ohio Area-wide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) commissioned a feasibility study that proposed two lines, one from Tower City to the east, through Mentor, Painesville, Ashtabula and Conneaut; and one to the southeast through Solon, Aurora and Hudson. NOACA estimates that, on the first day, these lines would each take about 7,000 cars off the road per day.
Commuter rail just makes sense. Send me to Congress, and I’ll get to work!
-Bill
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