(The following story by Eric Timmons appeared on The Register-Mail website on September 17, 2010.)
GALESBURG, Ill. — BNSF has created 21 new jobs in Galesburg this summer and will add another 49 before the end of the year, according to one of the railroad company’s senior officials.
The jobs are signs of a recovery in the freight business, which was hammered by the economic recession. At the height of the recession, BNSF furloughed 187 employees in Galesburg but all of those workers have since been recalled, said Paul Nowicki, BNSF’s vice president for government affairs.
Nowicki spoke at a news conference at the West Main railroad crossing Friday with Gov. Pat Quinn to announce $79 million of infrastructure spending in Galesburg, including funding for two railroad overpasses and one underpass.
“The employment office at BNSF is open for business,” Nowicki said at the West Main railroad crossing, which will be home to one of the new overpasses.
Quinn said the spending would create well-paid jobs and put the state on the road to recovery from the economic downturn.
“This is a very, very important initiative that will create hundreds of jobs right here that won’t get exported overseas,” he said.
Quinn said $45 million will be spent for the construction and extension of a BNSF mainline track and two new staging tracks to reduce rail congestion and separate freight trains from Amtrak trains.
The construction of two overpasses and one underpass will cost an estimated $34 million and be funded through the state’s capital construction program. Funding for the projects was first announced in 2009, when the state’s capital construction bill was signed into law by Quinn.
The West Main overpass will be the first of the three to be built in Galesburg, with work set to begin later this year. An overpass at East Main and an underpass on North Seminary will follow. A total of 440 jobs are expected to be created, according to Quinn’s office.
State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, also spoke Friday. He hailed Quinn for helping to secure the state’s first major capital bill in a decade.
“It’s really a bridge to the future, a bridge to opportunity,” Moffitt said of the bridge that will take traffic over the railroad lines at West Main.
The only downside to the projects, Moffitt joked, was that people in Galesburg would no longer be able to use the excuse that they got held up by a train when they arrive at work late.
Mayor Sal Garza said now that the state had done its job in providing funding for the long-planned rail projects, it was up to the city to make sure the money was spent properly.
“It’s our task now locally to make the most of this investment,” he said.
Garza, in honor of the announcement of funding for the projects, said Sept. 17 would be declared “Rail Day” in Galesburg.
Congressman Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, and Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig also spoke at the funding announcement in Galesburg.
Quinn, who will face stiff challenge for the governorship from Republican Bill Brady in the November election, said the state still had a long way to go to recover from the recession but said he had faith that communities like Galesburg have a strong future.
“This has been a railroad town, it is a railroad town and it always will be a railroad town,” he said. “We believe in Galesburg.”
All of those who spoke Friday saluted Moffitt for his work in securing funding for the rail projects in Galesburg. Moffitt said the overpasses and underpass would improve traffic, emergency response times and position the BNSF classification yard for expansion.
The three projects will contribute to the city’s quiet zone project, as train horns will no longer have to be sounded at the three crossings.