(The following story by Andre Salles appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on April 2.)
CHICAGO — Municipalities along the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line are banding together to prevent the sale of that line to the Canadian National Railway Company.
The proposed $300 million sale, announced last year, would divert freight trains from the congested rail lines through Chicago, sending them through the western suburbs. But local leaders are concerned that the plan, which could quadruple the number of lengthy freight trains coming through some areas each day, will cause traffic and safety problems.
That’s why those leaders are joining up. The new group they are forming is called the CN/EJ&E Acquisition Municipal Consortium, and it was sparked by DuPage County. Pam Ryan, who represents the 6th District on the DuPage County Board, said the idea grew organically from meetings she helped to set up.
The most recent of those meetings took place on March 7 at the Will County Government Center.
“We had a tremendous amount of representatives from so many communities that are impacted by this,” Ryan said. “About 60 different agencies were represented, from as far away as Indiana.”
The city of Aurora was one of those agencies. In addition to city staffers, Aldermen Leroy Keith, 9th Ward, and Lynda Elmore, 10th Ward, attended the meeting. The EJ&E line runs through both of their wards.
On Tuesday, city aldermen moved forward a resolution to formally join the consortium, and to pledge up to $15,000 toward the effort. City leaders have voiced their opposition to the sale and sent their own comments to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which must approve the sale.
The federal board is in the midst of its environmental impact study, whereby it will examine the positive and negative effects of the sale on the surrounding communities. The board will then draft a report and give those communities time to comment on it.
According to Aurora spokesman Carie Anne Ergo, the consortium wants to be ready when that happens. That’s why the city is pitching in financially. Ergo said the money will likely be used to perform traffic studies and gather other data in preparation for the federal report, which could be released in as little as five months.
Though members haven’t discussed the consortium, the Kendall County Board voted 6-3 Tuesday to pass a resolution opposing the sale. Three dissenters — Bob Davidson, Nancy Martin and Bill Wykes — remain concerned that without increasing the number of freight trains, more trucks will be needed to carry goods, further clogging county roads.
Canadian National has argued that the sale will have a positive effect on the Chicago region as a whole, reducing congestion in the city. But critics of the sale say the move will paralyze at-grade crossings in smaller municipalities, will cost a tremendous amount of money to improve those crossings, and may have a negative impact on Metra’s proposed suburb-to-suburb service, dubbed the Star Line.
The consortium will meet again on April 11, and Ryan expects they will set up a central organization at that time. Aurora aldermen will vote on joining the consortium at their April 8 meeting.