(The following story by Bob Okon appeared on The Herald News website on August 1.)
JOLIET — Joliet appears ready to work with Canadian National Railway rather than fight the company’s plan to take over the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern line.
A number of suburban communities – including Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield – have united to try to fight the Canadian National plan. But Joliet could become one of the first communities along the EJ&E path to sign an agreement with CN.
The Joliet City Council land-use committee voted this week for an agreement that would spell out Canadian National’s obligations to help ease the impact on Joliet. The full council still must vote on the agreement, and that could happen in mid-August or September.
CN’s acquisition is expected to create four times as many trains at area rail crossings. But Joliet officials said they expect CN’s plan to get federal approval in part because it also would relieve train congestion in other parts of the Chicago region.
One of the main features of the Joliet-CN agreement would be the creation of “quiet zones” at all city crossings. That would mean no horns blowing, except in emergency situations.
“Anybody who lives close to the railroad line will appreciate the efforts of Joliet and CN to provide them with quiet zones,” said City Manager Tom Thanas.
Canadian National officials would not comment where Joliet stands compared to other communities with which it is negotiating.
On Thursday, the railroad confirmed that no other agreements with local communities have been signed.
CN has met with Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield, but no resolutions have been reached for the communities’ issues.
Karyn Robeles, Naperville’s transportation team leader, said the solutions CN presented to their concerns were “not satisfactory.”
Plainfield Village Administrator Alex Harris said although the rail company has met with Plainfield officials, meetings with other important entities – including the village’s fire protection district, named in a federal report as one of the most affected along the line – have not taken place.
“We (Joliet) are one of a few that have been meeting with Canadian National,” Thanas said. “From our perspective, we don’t see a need to wait any longer.”