(The following story by Guy Tridgell appeared on the South Town Star website on August 24.)
CHICAGO — For New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann, it’s a life-or-death issue.
The Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that oversees rail operations nationwide, will begin a new round of hearings Monday for people to comment on the Canadian National Railway’s attempt to buy the EJ&E Railroad.
The first of eight meetings that are expected to draw thousands of supporters and opponents of the plan will be in Matteson.
In New Lenox, if the sale goes through, CN would increase the number of trains on the EJ&E tracks through the middle of town from six a day to 28, cutting the community in half for long stretches. From Waukegan to Gary, Ind., towns along the “J” line would see similar increases.
The thought makes Baldermann shudder.
As a young cop in Chicago Ridge, Baldermann once was dispatched to a home where a baby wasn’t breathing. He made it only after narrowly avoiding a train moving down the Indiana Harbor Belt tracks.
The ambulance driver behind him wasn’t as lucky. The infant died.
“I was performing CPR on the baby. The other driver was caught behind the train,” Baldermann said. “Those issues will happen again. And if it happens once, it happens too much.”
CN wants the EJ&E tracks that rim the Chicago area so it can streamline rail operations in the country’s busiest rail gateway. Trains that run on CN’s five lines radiating from Chicago would be diverted to the EJ&E if the $300 million sale is approved.
The Surface Transportation Board, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is expected to make a final ruling later this year.
Angry suburbanites along the EJ&E tracks fear that additional trains will create traffic jams, erode property values and keep police and fire departments from reaching their destinations.
But they are not, so far, finding a ton of sympathy.
A preliminary draft report by the federal board states that many of the potential traffic problems would result from “pre-existing” conditions because roads were built intersecting the tracks.
The report also notes that more traffic on the EJ&E line – which also touches Frankfort, Matteson, Park Forest and Chicago Heights – would have “minor” effects on home values.
By rerouting trains from the core of the Chicago area to outer suburbs, the number of collisions between vehicles and trains would drop by 8 percent across the region, the board determined.
CN has long maintained that more than 60 communities will see the benefits of fewer trains if the company is permitted to buy the EJ&E. About 30 would experience negative consequences.
“We have recognized there are a lot of communities that stand to gain,” CN spokesman Jim Kvedaras said. “It’s what we have always said: There are going to be many more benefits.”
U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-3rd), of Western Springs, said putting more trains on the EJ&E tracks is the fair thing to do.
“I understand the concerns of the communities, but there has to be a balance,” Lipinski said. “You are taking trains from a highly congested area and putting them on a line where there is little use.”
He said it was only matter of time before the tracks saw more trains, pointing out that they have been here since 1891.
“People have known that line is there,” Lipinski said. “Nothing stands out to me saying this (CN plan) is going to be rejected.”
But the impact on towns along the EJ&E line could be huge.
The St. James hospitals in Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights are among the 11 hospitals and fire departments that will be “substantially affected,” according to the Surface Transportation Board.
It said four Southland rail crossings will need improvements because of the additional trains – Cicero Avenue in Matteson, Western Avenue in Park Forest, Chicago Road in Chicago Heights and U.S. 30 in Lynwood.
The board is urging towns to negotiate with CN to pay for any underpasses and overpasses. Last week, Joliet reached an agreement to create “quiet zones” and upgrade tracks to quicken trains that crawl through the city.
But Baldermann said his discussions with CN have not been productive. He said the railroad offered to pay for no more than 10 percent for overpasses or underpasses where the EJ&E crosses Gougar, Nelson, Cedar Schoolhouse and Spencer roads in New Lenox. The improvements to each crossing are estimated at $40 million.
“They really didn’t offer us anything – nothing to deal with traffic congestion or public safety,” the mayor said. “It’s ridiculous. (New Lenox is) going to see some of the biggest residential growth in this area.”
A couple of developments could complicate CN’s plans.
Legislators whose districts include the EJ&E line, such as U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-13th), of Hinsdale, are pledging to move legislation that would force the Surface Transportation Board to take a harder look at the impacts on communities when weighing railroad matters.
And CN is threatening to sue the board if a ruling isn’t made by Oct. 15. CN contends the EJ&E’s current owner, U.S. Steel, is vowing to back out of the deal if it isn’t approved by the end of year.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Steel declined to confirm or deny the company’s intentions.
“We are offering no comment,” she said.