04/21/2022
Meanwhile in Montana.
Exciting news! Today Lake County, Montana voted to join the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, bringing the number of county members to 18, in addition to three participating tribal nations.
“Without a doubt, it’s going to be a big lift. We’ve been off the grid for a while and we’ll have to restore bridges and right-of-way,” Juan Escano, former Polson, Montana city planning director, said. “But we’re looking to attract businesses to stimulate and create jobs for our communities. If we had rail, we could accelerate the growth of those businesses. The price of shipping our products would cost less. It would leverage the ability to have tourism and some light industrial.”
Escano acknowledged the potential cost of restoring and reconnecting rail across the region but believes the economic benefits make it a worthy endeavor. He also believes there may be creative ways to help fund such efforts including nontraditional private-public partnerships.
“A number of factors are emerging that can make the discussion of bringing back rail a viable one, such as increasing fuel price trends, increased highway and air traffic congestion, increased demand for non-automobile travel options, and a need to get people and products faster from one point to the other at a lower cost in order to maintain competitive advantages,” he said. “We have ignored these mobility improvements for decades. It is time that we address them.”
