(The following story by Jonathan Bilyk appeared on the Kane County Chronicle website on September 4.)
GENEVA — Kane County officials might not formally oppose the acquisition of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway by Canadian National.
But the Kane County Board likely will strengthen its call to federal regulators to get tougher with the railroad.
On Wednesday, the Kane County Board’s Executive Committee forwarded on to the full board a resolution staking out the county’s position on the acquisition.
Last month, the County Board’s transportation committee approved the resolution, which stated the county’s support for the acquisition – provided CN ante up money to pay for roadway improvements that would reduce the impact increased freight rail activity would have on area roadways.
That statement of conditional support was in contrast to the positions taken by other suburban counties, all of whom have formally opposed the purchase of the EJ&E by CN.
The acquisition of the rail line, which runs in a rough semi-circle around the outskirts of the Chicago area, must be approved by federal regulators. Because the acquisition would sharply increase the amount of freight traffic on the line, local lawmakers and municipal officials worry the purchase could snarl vehicular traffic on their roads.
Kane County officials acknowledged the potential for problems for the county from CN’s plans, noting that the EJ&E runs just east of the county line and crosses several of the county’s major highways, including U.S. Route 34 and Stearns Road, among others.
As a result, some on the county board urged the board to more strenuously object to the acquisition.
“There is a time to compromise, but there is also a time to dig in your heels and send a message,” said Gerald Jones, D-Aurora.
“We need to just say no,” he said. “It’s not good for us, and it’s not good for our communities.”
Most, however, held the position that the county should, instead, push hard for CN to pay for improvements to mitigate the impact its freight traffic would have on the communities.
“We need to dig our heels in,” said John Hoscheit, R-St. Charles. “But we need to do what we can to get mitigation.”
To that end, the committee directed county staff members to again rewrite the resolution to strengthen language calling on federal lawmakers and regulators to weigh the local impacts and lean on CN to provide funding.
The measure will be taken up by the full County Board at its meeting Sept. 9.