Ottawa council approves resolution of support for Peoria to Chicago passenger rail

The Ottawa City Council approved a resolution of support for the estimated $2.45 billion project that would see a passenger rail connect Peoria to Chicago.

The proposed rail would have a stop in Ottawa.

“The next step is to raise some money in order to apply for the rest of funding,” said Mayor Dan Aussem. “They needed to have some buy-in from the communities and they sent out the recommendation.”

The mayor believes the recommendation for Ottawa is about $16,000.

Aussem said any transportation in and out of the city is going to be beneficial for the people that live there.

“There are a number of people here that have to go down to Peoria for medical reasons but I think if you had the rail here, people might go down for an excursion,” Aussem said. “Or they could go to a ballgame or concert up in Chicago. I think if the transportation options were there, I think more people would take advantage of them.”

This transportation also would give Ottawa and any other city with a stop the opportunity to attract more tourism. Proposed stops include Joliet, Morris, Utica and La Salle-Peru on the route, along with Ottawa.

The timetable for project completion is a decade out.