More than 100 supporters of high-speed rail that follows the Mississippi River Route gathered in La Crosse on Thursday to share information about the project and learn more about how Minnesota and Wisconsin can work together to advocate for the route.
![Karri Plowman, [TITLE], discusses On Board Midwest's role advocating for high-speed rail along the River Route.](http://www.onboardmidwest.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/karri-plowman.jpg "Karri Plowman On Board Midwest")
Karri Plowman, executive director of On Board Midwest, discusses the coalition's role in advocating for high-speed rail along the River Route.
Leaders of Wisconsin’s Empire Builder High-Speed Rail Coalition and the Minnesota High-Speed Rail Commission advocated for the River Route, which would include stops in La Crosse, Winona, Red Wing, and Saint Paul.
The organizations also believe that the route has the greatest chance for operational success because it has the capacity to maintain both freight and passenger services simultaneously. “I really feel that this route will come out on top,” said Winona Mayor Jerry Miller, who heads the Minnesota High-Speed Rail Commission, which consists of officials from communities located along Amtrak’s Empire Builder line.
Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation commissioners, Tom Sorel and Frank Busalacchi, were both on hand to offer their thoughts about the cooperation between the two states. Sorel noted that Minnesota and Wisconsin state agencies are conducting studies this year to determine the best possible route and will conduct further planning and engineering on that primary route in 2011. Busalacchi stressed the need for continued funding for high-speed rail to complete the proposed Midwest regional rail system.
“This is about giving people options for transportation. This is about the environment. It’s about energy independence. All of these things are very important,” said Busalacchi.
“We need to work very closely with the state of Wisconsin to make this work. And make this work not only for each of our states, but work for the Midwest and make sure we have high-speed rail service that makes sense for all of us,” said Sorel.
Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel and Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi address the more than 100 high-speed rail supporters who attended the La Crosse summit.
James Hill, Empire Builder Coalition coordinator, called the meeting “historic” because elected representatives from 25 communities and counties spanning the Empire Builder route were cooperating to bring high-speed rail to their communities. This multi-state cooperation will be crucial as we continue to seek funding for the project.
For more information, click on the following media coverage of the meeting:
For more pictures from the summit, click here.
