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Maglev: The Key to Our Future?
Posted 9-19-2002
The saga of Maglev is one that
has created a tremendous amount of publicity, anxiety, and confusion. The
furor is unusual because we are not even sure if the project will be funded,
or if it will be awarded to southwestern Pennsylvania. Westmoreland County
has been a hotbed of Maglev controversy because the initial routes
identified by the Maglev group dissected several housing plans in Penn
Township and Hempfield Township.
I have worked with my fellow
county commissioners and our county planning department to "educate" the
Maglev Inc. and its partners from the Port Authority of Allegheny County
that their first choices would not win much popular support in our county.
We suggested following the turnpike for as long as possible, since use of
existing rail corridors had been ruled out. An initial suggestion to go to
New Stanton was rejected by the Maglev group because it added too many
additional miles to the 45-mile length specifications of the project.
The Maglev group then
suggested a route that generally followed the Pennsylvania Turnpike and
ended near the Route 136 exit of the Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass (Toll 66).
However, this route still impacted large amounts of residential and
commercial property close to the turnpike. We countered this proposal with
one that more tightly followed the turnpike, affected less property, and
followed an abandoned rail corridor to the Hutchinson Bypass. The Maglev
group responded with another version of the route that met their engineering
requirements, but did not use the abandoned rail corridor.
That is where we are today --
a modified version of a modified version of a proposed route that is called
C6 "modified." This route appears to be the one that will be recommended by
Maglev Inc. and the Port Authority to the Federal Railroad Administration as
the "preferred route." Is it a prefect route? No. Would there be a perfect
route anywhere in a county as densely developed as Westmoreland County? No
way! Are there still people upset that their property will be affected? Most
definitely yes!
Some people have asked, why
Westmoreland County at all? The reason is that the proposed project is to
begin at Pittsburgh International Airport and must be at least 45 miles
long. Since central Westmoreland County is the only area in the region with
enough population to sustain the project, we were chosen as the direction to
go with the project.
It is a challenge to respond
to people's reaction to something that may or may not happen. People have
asked the county commissioners to oppose the project all together, and
perhaps appeasing this audience would have been the easy thing to do. But
the jobs we are elected to do require leadership, and part of that
responsibility involves making difficult, and sometimes unpopular,
decisions.
People can argue about the
virtues of the project and its viability. But if the federal government
funds its share of the project, and the additional funding is secured, do we
want billions of dollars and the potential for many, many jobs to go to
Baltimore-Washington? Can southwestern Pennsylvania really afford to NOT get
the project?
Our region has lost many
young people throughout the last 25 years, and, demographically, we are one
of the oldest regions in the nation. Though the latest economic downturn has
not been as devastating as ones in the past, we still do not attract
investment or people like other regions. I am not suggesting that Maglev is
a "cure-all" for our many challenges, but from a perception standpoint, it
can change the image of our region. We all know that southwestern
Pennsylvania is not old, smoky steel mills, but much of the rest of the
world still thinks that is the case. As long as that perception exists, we
must work to change it.
While Maglev will not solve
all of the region's transportation problems, though it most certainly will
help, it will do wonders for our image. If people flying into Pittsburgh or
driving down the turnpike, see it and begin to think that southwestern
Pennsylvania is modernizing and is a viable place to live, work, and invest,
we may actually begin to grow as a region, rather than continue to shrink.
This region was on the
cutting edge of transportation in the 1930s when the Pennsylvania Turnpike
was built. Even though few people owned cars back then, they lived with the
change to our communities, so that future generations could enjoy its
benefit. Now, we must look at the long range potential of Maglev and ask
ourselves, "Do we not owe it to future generations to at least try as hard
as possible to obtain a new form of transportation that may be of value to
our children and their children?" We most certainly do. |
