Governor says rail plan could boost economy throughout the state
Story Created:
Mar 9, 2009 at 2:24 PM EST
Story Updated:
Mar 9, 2009 at 2:30 PM EST
ALBANY, N.Y. (WKTV) - Just a week after we reported that Utica Mayor David Roefaro was in Albany lobbying with other officials for a high-speed rail system that would run through Utica, among other locations through the state, Governor David Paterson released a plan Monday to build a faster rail line stretching across the state, the starting point for New York's application for federal transportation stimulus funds.
The state is competing with four other states for a piece of the $8 billion in federal stimulus funds for rail service available later this year.
Paterson says that the implementation of the plan would create immediate jobs in engineering and construction, but that the overall project could lead to a trickle-down economic improvement to all the areas the rail travels through, including stops in upstate.
"The people move where the jobs were," Paterson told NEWSChannel 2. "You start linking these cities with a high-speed rail, and you will see a revolution of economic development that may not be as great as it was during the building of the Erie Canal, but I tell you one thing - it will revitalize these cities and rural economies for years to come."
The plan is only the second comprehensive rail plan since 1978, which would include upgrades to crossings to that trains on specific routes could travel as fast as 110 miles per hour, drastically cutting down on travel time.
"The idea is that the immediate work will create engineering and construction jobs and a lot of jobs in the implementation of it," Governor Paterson said. "Then, the jobs in commerce and in tourism will be immense and will be continuing as we connect the cities and cause them to be in at distance that is accessible."
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