He says lack of funding makes project unfeasible

Friday, September 26, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey advised members of a business group yesterday to "forget about maglev," dismissing the proposed high-speed train project as too costly.

"The federal government isn't going to pay for it," Roddey said, addressing the Pittsburgh chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

Roddey's view contrasts sharply with the position of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a fellow Republican who last month touted maglev as a potential "bonanza" for the region.

A local business-government partnership is proposing a $3 billion, 45-mile, magnetic-levitation train route connecting Greensburg, Monroeville, Downtown and Pittsburgh International Airport.

The partnership -- whose members include the Port Authority, the state Department of Transportation and Monroeville-based Maglev Inc. -- is competing against a proposed Baltimore-to-Washington maglev link for $950 million in federal funding. And a Las Vegas-to-Anaheim route has begun to receive consideration.

But the Federal Railroad Administration has indefinitely postponed the selection of the winning project and Congress has not approved the expenditure.

The growing federal debt is fueling skepticism about the prospects for maglev funding.

Roddey, who once supported maglev, now urges the Port Authority to accelerate the planning of a light rail connection between Oakland, Downtown and the airport.

During his speech yesterday at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, the county executive lamented that such a connection doesn't already exist.

"Today, we suffer from the lack of long-term planning," he said.

Allegheny County Controller Dan Onorato, who is challenging Roddey in the Nov. 4 election, is still holding out hope for the maglev project.

"We need an answer from the federal government as to whether the money is real," the Democrat said. "We can't go on wondering if it will ever be funded."

Onorato agrees with Roddey about the need for a light rail connection if the money for maglev doesn't materialize.

Specter, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, has said he is lobbying other Congress members to support Pittsburgh's maglev proposal.

He did not return a reporter's phone call yesterday.

Maglev Inc. Chief Executive Officer Fred Gurney called for patience, characterizing the delays in securing congressional approval as normal.

"That's the nature of projects with the federal government," he said.

Gurney added that he hopes to re-enlist Roddey as a maglev supporter.

"We've been doing our darndest to cultivate political support," he said.

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