Many people commute for work or play up and down the Interstate 35 corridor between the Twin Cities and Albert Lea. But gas usage and traffic could be reduced if the state were to build a high-speed passenger rail along the interstate, according to the Freeborn County commissioners.

“It would be a wonderful benefit, a wonderful tool,” said commissioner Chris Shoff.

The Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved a resolution, initiated by Shoff, supporting a high-speed passenger rail.

“I just think it would be a very good bonus for us,” said Larry Anderson, an Albert Lea resident and Minnesota Department of Transportation employee who commutes to Owatonna daily for work. “It would help in more than one way.”

Discussion has gone on throughout the state about building a light rail or high-speed passenger rail from the Twin Cities to cities in outstate Minnesota.

Currently, a rail is proposed to go from Minneapolis to Duluth and Superior. The Northern Lights Express line could cost between $360 million and $400 million and open in 2012, according to the Star Tribune. The decision to build relies largely on the opportunity for federal money.

Another line, the $320 million Northstar Commuter Rail, is being built to Big Lake. State officials hope it will someday reach St. Cloud.

The resolution passed by the Freeborn County commissioners supports a passenger line that would follow I-35 from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Albert Lea. The rail to Duluth will follow I-35, so “the natural extension of that south is to go down 35,” Shoff said.

“Albert Lea has been a transportation hub or a transportation center for a long time,” he said.

Passing a resolution at the county level, Shoff said, is the first step to gaining support for the amenity. The resolution will be sent to the counties — Steele, Rice, Scott, Dakota, Ramsey and Hennepin — the rail would pass through as well as the U.S. Senate and U.S. House members from Minnesota.

“We should demand change locally,” Shoff said, adding he talked to individual commissioners in other counties and they seem in support of the initiative.

With the changing face of the nation’s traffic patterns, Shoff said, and the discussion of where transportation is going in the future, the question is what is the country doing with the interstate highway system.

A passenger rail would help ensure safety, quality, reliability, efficiency and mobility of the county’s transportation network, according to the resolution.

“That light rail hopefully could relieve some of the impact on 35,” Anderson said.

The rail could reduce traffic congestion leading into and out of the Twin Cities and “enhance the efficiency of the overall corridor,” according to the resolution.

A passenger rail is a “critical component of a modern, multi-modal transportation system, and should have financial support, unified policy development and oversight similar to that afforded our air, highway and mass transit modes,” the resolution states.

Much needs to happen before anything comes to fruition, Shoff said. He asks people who support a passenger rail get engaged and talk to their state and national representatives.

In other business, the county board:

– Set the 2009 budget calendar. Department budget reviews are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 12 and 13. Overall budget review is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 19. Adoption of the proposed levy and budget is scheduled for Sept. 2. The truth in taxation hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 4. The final budget and levy is scheduled to be adopted Dec. 16.

– Set a workshop for July 15, after the county board and Human Services meetings at the Human Services building, to discuss the individual sewage treatment system loan program for an update on the recent changes.

– Approved work and repairs on ditches across the county. Some ditches needed work based on damage done by floods last month. A few of the ditches are eligible for FEMA funds.

Ditch inspector Phil Tennis showed pictures of ditch washouts caused by the floods. Tennis said his department has been shown a lot of washouts, with reports still coming in.

– Approved the resolution for tax forfeiture on 15 properties making them up for sale. The properties were classified as nonconservation. Nine parcels of land are in Albert Lea, one is in Glenville, and one is in each of Manchester, Geneva, Bath, London and Bancroft townships.

– Heard a presentation by Jon Ford, executive director of the Albert Lea Housing & Redevelopment Authority, about a $5,200 reimbursement including the 1 percent bonding deposit fee for the Minnesota Cities Participation Program.

– Established repair and improvement and approved the legal description and map of the right-of-way for County Ditch J-6.

– Appointed engineers for county ditches 23, 46, 48, 64, 72 and 76.