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Welcome To the Latest Issue of eNews!
February 25, 2010 vol 1 issue 6 Welcome to La Crosse County’s eNews. Our purpose is to keep the people of La Crosse County better informed about your County government. County government has not always been as visible as some other levels of government. So we’ll provide eNews you can use like upcoming dates for public hearings, health clinics and reminders about deadlines for dog licenses and ordinance changes. We’ll provide detailed information about our budget, highlights of innovations and achievements and updates about critical issues facing the County, like how certain actions of the State & Federal governments will affect County services and County property taxpayers. We also want the people of our County to have a chance to learn more about the inner workings of County government by providing access to the Monthly Report to the County Board. On an alternating basis, roughly half the departments report each month on the most compelling statistics, activities and challenges confronting our staff working to provide the best in public service. Link to Monthly Reports. We hope you find La Crosse County eNews helpful and informative. If you have any suggestions how to make it better, please let us know using our email links at the bottom. eNews You Can Use! Empire Builder High Speed Rail Coalition and Minnesota High
Speed Rail Commission Joint Meeting supporting HSR along the existing Mississippi River Route Thursday March 18, 2010 11:30-1:45 pm Lunch 11:30 ($5 per person) Keynote Speakers: Frank Busalacchi, Secretary WI Dept. of Transportation (confirmed) Thomas Sorel, Commissioner MN Dept. of Transportation (invited) Train Station BBQ Amtrak Depot, 601 Andrew Street, La Crosse RSVP by Monday March 15 to La Crosse Area Development Corporation 608-784-5488 A Unified Passenger Rail Strategy, High Speed Plus Commuter Rail As a former Eau Claire County Supervisor and now La Crosse County Administrator, I have a unique perspective on the two alternative routes for high speed rail (HSR) from Chicago to the Twin Cities, through Eau Claire or La Crosse. Our communities have many things in common and I believe we can find common ground on passenger rail too. Unified we have much to gain, divided we have even more to lose, because competition will be intense for limited resources. The announcement of HSR funding to connect Chicago to Madison at 110 mph, also included money to study alternative routes for service to the Twin Cities. There should be no disagreement that both routes are important to building a viable system of interconnected passenger rail service over time. However the system will be established in phases and the data will show that the routes are not equally cost effective. The River Route through La Crosse expands on the assets of Amtrak passenger service where demand already exceeds capacity and operates with the double track essential for both freight & passenger rail. An Eau Claire route will need more improvements and right-of-way to accommodate both passenger and freight, while also pushing the majority of the 20% State share to Wisconsin, instead of sharing capital costs with Minnesota. The River Route will also serve WI communities along the border who can board at the depots in Winona and Red Wing. In his recent visit to La Crosse, Governor Doyle stated that Minnesota could be a major factor in deciding whether the HSR route goes through La Crosse or Eau Claire. From an economic point of view, Doyle added, "we're better off having it go to La Crosse and up the Minnesota side, because then Minnesota is paying the operating costs of the whole trip from La Crosse up to the Twin Cities." The recently completed MN Rail Plan @ www.dot.state.mn.us, recognizes that passenger rail must be an interconnected system, built over time. The MN plan indicates clear demand for commuter rail from Eau Claire to St. Paul Union Depot with multiple stops and relatively low implementation & operating costs to attain 79 mph speeds. Commuter rail along the I-94 corridor would respond to the needs of more communities with more frequent stops than HSR, while beginning the eventual extension / upgrade of rail across the state to Green Bay and also south to Madison. We urge all Western Wisconsin communities to support a unified passenger rail strategy that quickly serves the most people in WI & MN by supporting HSR on the River Route; and at the same time work to establish commuter passenger service to the Chippewa Valley as part of an overall system, with connection for service to Chicago at the St. Paul Union Depot.
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