The last Iowa Legislature appropriated $300,000 as the state’s share of a new Amtrak station to be built in Dubuque. Of course, restoration of a Black Hawk service to Rockford, Freeport and Dubuque is not a certainty at this point as (if I understand it correctly) Illinois has not agreed to the subsidy that would be required.
The Speaker of the Iowa House is from Dubuque. The result is that some candidates for state offices are running ads poking fun at building a depot where there is no train.
Do I understand you correctly that a new station in Dubuque, IA actually exists? If correct, where is it?
The previous Blackhawk service that ran from 1974-81 used the former IC/ICG depot in Dubuque. Don’t know why they would need to build a new one as there’s nothing wrong with that place.
Hope they can get that service restored between Chicago and Dubuque but that thing has GOT to be extended to Waterloo.
I do not believe anything actually has been built. I think the next step is to organize some federal Congressional help to secure money from that source (can you say “earmark”, lol).
As an aside, the Chamber of Commerce boasts that Dubuque has the best bar per capita ratio in the country, so perhaps it is my kind of tourist destination!
I would suspect that they want the new station to be built up near the site of the old MILW & ‘reproduction’ CB&Q station due to the other shops and the new museum. The old IC station is to the south by the CN freight yard(is it still standing?).
Jim