Lincoln Trail Area Development District Executive Director Daniel London says the evidence shows that now is the time to pursue the public transportation plan laid out in the regional transit study commissioned by the Radcliff-Elizabethtown Metropolitan Planning Organization
“It’s only going to be more expensive,” London said. “We’ve already, frankly, in some ways waited too long. It was too long of a gap between the studies, and we’re already behind the ball a little bit, but we can catch up, and we can do it the right way.”
London presented on the regional transit study while serving as the guest speaker at the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s January membership luncheon Wednesday.
London said since the last regional transportation study, Hardin County’s population has grown by 16,528 people, an 18 percent increase, and projections show the population increasing by 22,380 people by 2030. He also said the people that are moving to the area expect infrastructure improvements such as mass transit.
“We have the growth to support a mass transit system,” London said. “We need a mass transit system now that we’re a destination community. We need it now that we are an economic powerhouse in this region, and for further growth to facilitate whether it be infrastructure or people coming, we need a mass transit system.”
London said local officials are committed to “not digging a taxpayer grave.” The total cost of the project is about $5.8 million, but with federal and state support the local contribution will be about $1.7 million. The overall project is a three-phase approach in order to keep costs down, and interest and participation will need to be seen in phase one in order to keep the project moving forward.
“If people don’t participate in phase one, which is a concept of operation plan with goods, we’ve got to see that the interest from the community is there,” London said. “If people don’t take advantage of phase one, they won’t get to phase two and phase three because they’re not going to sink the costs into it. It’s that simple.”
The complete plan can be found at www.ltadd.org or at Radcliff-Elizabethtown-MPO.org.
