BLISSFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A railroad company in southeastern
Michigan’s Lenawee County says it will keep pushing for financial help
in re-establishing a freight line to Toledo, Ohio.
The Adrian
& Blissfield Rail Road Co. lost out in 2013 grant awards through the
federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program.
Railroad owner Mark Dobronski says it will reapply for the next round
and also is pursuing other financing.
"We’re still trying. We’re getting a lot of help from local governments," Dobronski said.
Officials say the lack of a rail link hampers economic development in the county.
It
now takes several days to ship freight cars from Blissfield to Toledo
using a 600-mile circuit through Indiana, Dobronski told The Daily
Telegram of Adrian (http://bit.ly/1dfwa1O ).

Five
to six miles of track between Riga and Ottawa Lake were torn out three
decades ago when the line was out of use. Rebuilding the link was
estimated to cost $7 million. The project was not among 52 projects in
37 states that are sharing $474 million in grant funds awarded last
fall.
"We were very disappointed with that," said Jim Van Doren,
executive director of Lenawee Now. "But we have all the materials
assembled, and when the next round of … funding becomes available we
will be ready to apply again."
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Information from: The Daily Telegram, http://www.lenconnect.com
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