OHIO — For the first time in six years, Ohio's Rail Development Commission has voted to approve a plan that lays out what the state's future could look like on the tracks.
The commission just voted to move Ohio's draft rail plan forward by sending it to the Federal Railroad Administration for review.
This new plan places a heavy emphasis on freight over passengers. It lists more than 100 freight-related projects with an estimated price tag of $1.6 billion.
Supporters said freight rail helps Ohio businesses move goods while keeping trucks and the wear and tear they cause off state highways.
"One third of the import-export commodities are moved by rail," Matthew Dietrich, executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said. "There's a huge share of traffic that's just going through the state that would be on trucks. Every rail car is roughly three to four trucks. You can imagine what that would do to I-90 or I-80 going across the northern corridor."
Passenger rails aren't off the table. Four routes are under consideration in Ohio, including two being overseen by the state rail commission.
One would connect Cleveland to Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Another line would run from Cleveland to Toledo to Detroit.
Right now, neither of those two proposed routes has a rail stop in the Akron-Canton region.
U.S. Representative Emilia Sykes sent a letter to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine expressing concern that Akron and Canton are not included. She said this route leaves behind a significant population that could benefit from the inclusion of passenger rail.
Both of the routes are still in the early stages of federal study.
If the Federal Railroad Administration signs off, the next step would be to develop service plans that outline station locations, costs, and how passenger trains might share tracks with freight.
