MichiganRadio

Was Michigan Left Out Of The High Speed Rail Bonanza? LANSING, MI (MPRN) -

The Obama administration will spend 240 million dollars to upgrade tracks and make other improvements to help build a high-speed rail line connecting metro Detroit to Chicago. But very little of that money will be spent in Michigan.

Track improvements in Indiana and Illinois are expected to cut the travel time between Detroit and Chicago. But Michigan's share -- $40 million dollars - will only go toward improving and constructing buildings, and will generate relatively few jobs.

"This is economic stimulus? You gotta be kidding me," says Michigan Congresswoman Candace Miller.

Miller says the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate should have gotten more when some states got hundreds of millions of dollars.

"I'm not asking for all of it. I'm just saying, couldn't we at least have parity with some of these states like California and Florida. Certainly, we deserve that," says Miller.

But Tim Hoeffner of the Michigan Department of Transportation says Michigan passengers will benefit from track improvements in Indiana and Illinois. He says that will help cut the travel time between Detroit and Chicago.

"Whenever you're building a system, you can't start everywhere at one time," says Hoeffner, "You know, it would have been nice to have money come to Michigan, but I think that getting rid of some of that congestion in the long run is going to be very good and very important."

Governor Granholm says she is pleased with the announcement and will work to get more in the next round of funding. © Copyright 2012, MPRN