(The following story by Erik Potter appeared on the Post-Tribune website on February 3, 2009.)
GARY, Ind. — The ink is starting to dry on Canadian National Railway’s purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, finalized Sunday.
CN has begun installing signs at EJ&E crossings warning motorists of the coming increase in train traffic.
CN plans to divert traffic off of its main lines, which run through Chicago, onto the less congested EJ&E lines, which circle around the city.
The number of trains on the EJ&E line, which runs through Gary, Griffith, Schererville and Dyer, is expected to triple when the new traffic patterns take effect on March 4. The length of the trains is supposed to increase as well.
Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa said his town expects to receive a timeline from CN by the beginning of next week outlining when it will fulfill the terms of the agreement it struck with Griffith to minimize the impacts of the increased train traffic.
At its next meeting, the town council is expected to schedule a public hearing to gather residents’ opinions about how the town should spend the money it is receiving from CN for economic development and environmental mitigation.
“I’m happy with how things are going so far, but there’s still a long way to go,” Ryfa said.
Officials in Gary, however, which was unable to strike a mitigation deal with CN before its purchase of the EJ&E was approved, are growing increasingly frustrated with their attempts to negotiate with CN after the government approved the deal.