Draw your own rail routes session draws good crowd

New passenger rail routes in Michigan may come down to who most effectively lets elected officials know their desires, reports the Herald-Palladium.

“The important thing to remember is the squeaky registered voter gets the grease,” MARP Chairman John DeLora told a group gathered for the Michigan by Rail forum a joint effort of the Michigan Environmental Council and the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers.

Equipped with colored dot stickers, markers and oversized maps of Michigan, local governmental officials, planners and residents were asked to draw their preferred routes without worrying about finances or logistics.

Excerpt:

The map devised by St. Joseph Charter Township Manager Tim Fenderbosch’s group showed a line running prominently up West Michigan’s coastline from St. Joseph to the Upper Peninsula.

That’s how group members felt the state should position itself in the competition for tourism dollars, Fenderbosch said.

“I think they need to maintain the routes that go along the beautiful shoreline and make people want to come to Michigan,” he said.

To find out what other routes were proposed, read the rest of the story.

Source: Herald-Palladium