(The following story by Patrick Ferrell appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on February 13.)
NEW LENOX, Ill. — The village took two major steps forward this week by hiring a law firm and Web designer to help rally support in the growing battle over Canadian National’s bid to purchase the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway.
The village board also passed a resolution asking the Surface Transportation Board — the federal agency that must sign off on the sale — to force Canadian National to construct grade separation rail crossings in the village and perform other tasks that will minimize the impact of increasing trains from six to 28 per day.
Canadian National wants to reroute its trains to the EJ&E tracks in order to avoid the clogged rails of Chicago.
“The railroad has a significant reason to be here, and there’s a lot of support for that in the Chicagoland region,” Village Manager Russ Loebe said. “Here, we’re taking a step back and realizing this is probably going forward, but there are some things we can do to reduce the impact.
“It’s easy to get emotional about this, but when people have been successful, they have been very qualified and pragmatic.”
That’s why the village hired the law firm of Querry & Harrow Ltd., a Chicago group that has experience with railroad issues, Loebe said.
The village will also consult with engineering and traffic experts to create a “mini” environmental impact study for its community, taking into account its emergency response times, Interstate 355 traffic, school buses, land-use plans and noise.
The EJ&E tracks cross all of New Lenox Township in an east-west direction and has crossings on Gougar, Nelson, Cedar, Spencer and Schoolhouse roads, five key north-south routes in the village.
“It cuts us pretty much in half,” Loebe said.
Seven things
The resolution asks the Surface Transportation Board for seven things, including requiring Canadian National to do the following:
• construct grade separation crossings where feasible
• install quad-gates at all at-grade crossings to facilitate quiet zones
• transition from one to two tracks outside of the village
• install barriers or sound walls between the tracks and residential areas
• construct pedestrian signals at each crossing
• allocate resources and address risks associated with the increased hauling of hazardous materials
• provide a reduction of freight traffic to accommodate the proposed Metra STAR line
The Web site will function similarly to www.fightrailcongestion.com, a site against the sale run by the village of Barrington.
The New Lenox site will provide updated information and allow residents to sign up for e-mail alerts. The site’s domain has not been chosen yet, but will be linked through the village’s main page at www.newlenox.net.
The railroad site is being built by Pukelis & Lehrer Communications Inc. of Chicago at a cost of $7,750.
Town hall-style meeting
The village is also hosting a town hall-style meeting on March 1 to discuss the proposed sale’s impact on residents.
That meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at New Lenox Village Hall, 1 Veterans Parkway.