AVON, Ohio — The Avon City Council next week will hear an ordinance to support a commuter rail line that would link Lorain County to Cleveland, the Morning Journal reported.
Councilman at large Jack Kilroy is in favor of the rail line, but there wasn’t much discussion on the issue at last night’s council work session because Councilwoman at large JoAnne Easterday, Ward 1 Councilman Mark Julius and Ward 3 Councilman Timothy Nickum were out of town.
”Alternatives to the automobile is essential. We see congestion in Avon,” Kilroy said.
The rail line will also help those residents who work in Cleveland and live in Lorain County and western Cuyahoga County get to and from work quicker and easier, he said.
The proposed line would link Lorain’s $7 million Black River Landing in downtown Lorain with Cleveland, and make local stops in Sheffield, Avon and communities in western Cuyahoga County.
The effort to get a commuter rail connecting Lorain County to Cleveland has not been smooth, and council is trying to lend its support to the cause.
The proposal was thought to be derailed in early February but was revived when the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency said it needed more information in order to officially kill the project.
NOACA issued a study completed in December 2001 that listed a proposed commuter rail line linking Cleveland to Lorain as its most feasible of six considered. However, a cover memo attached to the finding stated that NOACA would not fund the Lorain project because of opposition from U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich and mayors of three cities in western Cuyahoga County.
NOACA’s 38-member board distributes federal funds to road, mass transit and other infrastructure projects in Lorain, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Medina counties. Concerns over noise, pollution and safety were cited as reasons for opposition from the mayors of Bay Village, Lakewood and Rocky River.
In 1998, Kucinich negotiated a 10-year agreement with Norfolk Southern and the three suburbs that kept the number of freight trains on the line to less than 14 per day. Since then, the number of freight trains on the proposed Norfolk Southern line has dropped to only two or three per day. Without Kucinich’s support the federal portions of the required $160 to $200 million in funding is unlikely to happen.
Rarely will federal dollars be allocated for a project in which the district representative is not in favor of its use.
U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Lorain, said in February that he is in favor of the rail line.
”A commuter rail line is important for Lorain. It brings in jobs, creates less pollution and congestion on the roads and provides another convenience,” Brown said last night. ”But, the key people in making this happen are those on the county and local levels.”
Avon City Council will also hear comments and questions from residents next Monday regarding a proposed new Interstate 90 interchange in the city somewhere between Lear Road and the Cuyahoga County line. Residents will also be able to speak about legislation that, if passed, will straighten out SR 83 at Chester Road.