ALL ABOARD
Montana Officials Give Light-Rail Line Another Look
By Headwaters News, 3-03-06
Commuter trains are all the rage across the West.
Utah's TRAX system has consistently outperformed predictions. Plans to get a commuter rail system up and running continue to steam along in New Mexico, and Denver's T-Rex is on track to double within the next year.
So it's not surprising to hear that Montana officials are taking another look at a light-rail system that would run from Missoula through the Bitterroot Valley to Darby.
The Missoulian reports today that Missoula transportation officials are taking advantage of an opportunity to have a light-rail expert hold a couple of workshops in June to look at light-rail projects in other cities and how those ideas would translate for the Missoula area.
Not everyone is enthralled with the project, including a Missoula city engineer who reminded his colleagues that cost estimates for the project in 1996 were $100 million.
The capital costs of the project prohibited meaningful discussions about a commuter rail line in the past, but proponents say new concerns about global warming, the increased population of the area and more congestion on area roads make the project more feasible now.
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