PITTSBURGH — Western Pennsylvania residents should know soon what path a proposed high-speed train will take, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
Maglev Inc. personnel expect to firm up routes for the train by early summer, said Richard Feder of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which is involved in the project.
“We should have a pretty good idea by the next round of public meetings, which is in June,” he said.
The 47-mile maglev system, which uses magnetic levitation over an elevated track, is proposed to connect downtown Pittsburgh and its international airport with Monroeville and Greensburg. The “magport” – or station – near Greensburg is proposed for the Greengate Mall.
Maglev officials decided on “recommended alignments” earlier this year for the airport-to-Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh-to-Monroeville stretches. In question is which of two areas in Westmoreland County will end up hosting the train. Those Westmoreland County sites basically run through the center of Penn Township and along routes 22 and 66.
The two sites that were tabbed for further study run “a couple hundred feet and sometimes more” away from two previously proposed alignments in the same areas of Westmoreland County, said Feder, the authority’s director of transit planning.
The path first considered through Penn Township’s middle drew sharp criticism from elected municipal officials and residents.
Twelve alignments were proposed last year to link the airport and cities.
“Right now, these (four recommended alignments) are the routes that we are exploring in depth,” said Ken Rich of the MSM Group, which consists of the Maguire Group, Skelly and Loy Inc., and McCormick, Taylor and Associates Inc.
The other alignments formerly considered – including a third route through Westmoreland County – “have been placed on the back burner, if you will,” Rich said.
Among the factors that will be considered are impacts on homes, recreational facilities, churches, schools, cemeteries and utilities, Feder said.
Maglev’s Dan Disk said the selected route must have certain geographic features that allow the train to reach 240 mph.
The June hearings will be the third held so far. Another round is proposed in November.
The alignments are part of an Environmental Impact Study, or EIS, which the MSM Group is preparing. The EIS is to be completed by the end of this year, then submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Western Pennsylvania is competing with the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area to have the first maglev system in the United States and for the $950 million in up-front money. The rail administration is expected to decide in early 2003 which project will get the funds for the $2.8 billion project.
Proponents of maglev say the train will speed up travel to and from Pittsburgh, bring thousands of jobs to the area and promote economic development in western Pennsylvania. The trip from Greensburg to the airport is expected to take 28 minutes.
“It makes the area of Greensburg much more attractive for development,” said Lou Rocchini of the MSM Group.
If approved by federal officials, the train is eventually expected to link with Philadelphia and New York. The line also could expand to the Midwest.
Opponents said the system costs too much and the planning isn’t thought out enough. At a December meeting, many Penn Township residents left disgusted after Maglev officials couldn’t answer their questions on which alignments would be used and land acquisition.
The township’s commissioners have sent a letter opposing two routes. In objecting to the first proposed route, the commissioners noted proximity to the Bushy Run Battlefield, a historical site, and the Valley Landfill, as well as a possible decline in property values and a potential decrease in tax revenue.
The alternate route calls for the path to run over a possible expansion area of the landfill and to miss the battlefield, but declining property values and dropping tax revenue remain as issues.
The modified route also would run through Claridge; Campbell’s farm, a large agricultural complex in Penn Township; and near Shramm’s Farms and Orchards.
The other route opposed by the commissioners was set aside.
The second modified route in Westmoreland County – along routes 22/66 – would run for a longer stretch through Murrysville than the previously proposed alignment. The original path would have run south of that community.