Money still a roadblock to King of Prussia rail line

SEPTA's plan to expand rail service to King of Prussia got a major boost from the state with last year's transportation-funding bill. Yet two years into the project's planning, funding remains its largest hurdle.

"We have funds for about 30 percent of the design, but the big question is: How do we pay for the construction?" SEPTA general manager Joseph M. Casey said Tuesday. "We need help, we need financial help, to get this going."

Casey gathered with fellow planners and politicians at the Chemical Heritage Foundation to discuss the need for rail service linking Philadelphia to King of Prussia, and what it would take to make it happen.

Montgomery County Commissioner Leslie S. Richards said the need was undeniable. With the shopping mall, the business parks, and other services, King of Prussia has 54,000 employees and expects to add 3,000 by 2040, she said. The vast majority are commuters.

Upper Merion Township and the King of Prussia Business Improvement District have been working on rezoning and new developments to transform the area from an isolated business district to a vibrant suburban core.

As those apartments and town centers open, the demand for rail will only grow, said Eric Goldstein, executive director of the business district.

"It's going to be lovely. Suburban, but lovely," he said, showing renderings of a rail station surrounded by pedestrians, trees, and modern high-rises on what is now a flat four-lane surface street.

There is little debate that the line would be heavily used and would ease traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway. But some have questioned the projected $500 million price tag and years of disruptive construction in a traffic-choked area.

The proposals involve extending the Norristown High-Speed Line along Route 202, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, or a Peco easement. SEPTA will narrow the list of routes from 16 to four and must choose the "locally preferred" option by the end of 2015, Casey said.

The next round of public meetings is set for Nov. 17 in King of Prussia and Nov. 19 in Norristown. Times and locations for those meetings will be posted at www.kingofprussiarail.com.

The passage of a $2 billion transportation bill last November, along with a gas-tax hike that is expected to bring in $11 billion for transportation projects, breathed life into the King of Prussia extension, Casey said.

The agency is hoping for federal grants to cover most of the construction costs, but Casey said SEPTA would be required to secure a 50 percent local funding match and commit to continued maintenance.

Justin Schor, a transportation consultant who helped lead the revitalization of Tysons Corner, Va., said that the promise of new rail stations there spurred huge financial commitments from developers.

"We're talking about big numbers that developers are bellying up to the bar to pay," he said.

Developers there have been paying an estimated $32 per square foot in subsidies to complete a new street grid, invest in schools, and reserve below-market-rate apartments for police and other service workers.

Private dollars also paid for the four suburban rail stations, he said, while federal, state and local funding covered the lines and other costs.

Schor acknowledged that Philadelphia and Washington isn't exactly "an apples-to-apples comparison." But he said King of Prussia and Tysons Corner are "strikingly similar" in their history as edge cities and their current configuration as hubs for major companies to access a large, educated employment market.

So far, Schor said, plenty of developers have been "willing to pay to play in [the Tysons Corner] market. The question is: Will that work in King of Prussia?"

Source: Philly.com