North Liberty not spending money on passenger rail study

A study to determine the feasibility of passenger rail service from Iowa City to North Liberty is unlikely to be derailed despite a decision by one Johnson County municipality not to fund the effort.

The North Liberty City Council on Tuesday decided not to vote on spending $3,300 to help pay for the $50,000 study being spearheaded by the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway - or CRANDIC.

Officials in Iowa City, Coralville, Johnson County and the University of Iowa all have said they plan to put $3,332 toward the study.

'I'm having a hard time with it,” said North Liberty City Council member Terry Donahue. 'It sounds like a great idea, but once you start pulling the layers off it, I get shaky.”

The study aims to determine if a diesel-powered train service connecting Iowa City to North Liberty along existing CRANDIC rails is feasible. Iowa DOT and CRANDIC are funding the majority of the study, but made a request earlier this month for support.

This study piggybacks on last year's study of a possible passenger rail service between the Eastern Iowa Airport and Iowa City.

Jeff Woods, manager of marketing and business development with CRANDIC, said he wasn't aware of the North Liberty City Council's decision as of Wednesday, but said he doesn't expect that to halt the study.

'I can't imagine that would be a dealbreaker,” Woods said.

CRANDIC officials hope to receive official word on requested funding by Monday.

Phase 1 estimated the cost for establishing a Cedar Rapids to Iowa City service at between $250 million and $520 million, with annual operations and maintenance between $5.6 million and $6.7 million. A streetcar model could cost up to $1.64 billion, according to the study.

A 2006 feasibility study estimated $21.4 million in startup costs for a Cedar Rapids to Iowa City route, which would have an annual operating budget around $5 million.

North Liberty City Council member Brian Wayson said he doesn't expect a new study to come back with much different results.

'I don't see us spending the money on it,” Wayson said. 'They had the study last year that said it's too expensive and they had the study in 2006 that said it's too expensive.”

North Liberty officials said plans are still on track to implement a pilot program for an intracity bus service.

City Administrator Ryan Heiar said that program is to launch later this year.