(The following story by Janet Lundquist appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on February 25.)
PLAINFIELD, Ill. — The village has joined a growing list of communities speaking up about the possible Canadian National Railway purchase of the Elgin Joliet and Eastern rail line.
Plainfield officials last week submitted a list of concerns about the potential sale to the federal Surface Transportation Board, including the fear that more freight train traffic could cause a commuting nightmare.
If the board approves the sale, Canadian National plans to reroute freight train traffic around congested Chicago tracks on the EJ&E line, which could triple the number of trains at some crossings each day.
The EJ&E stretches 198 miles from Waukegan in the north to Gary, Ind., and South Chicago in the southeast. In Will County, the EJ&E tracks run through Plainfield, Crest Hill, Joliet, New Lenox, Frankfort and Mokena.
There are 17 EJ&E crossings in Plainfield, and only one is a grade-separated bridge. The tracks run through the middle of town, and the small number of trains using them now cause rush-hour traffic jams.
Plainfield officials believe the projected effect on traffic alone is enough for the Surface Transportation Board to deny the sale.
“Those crossings are going to be extremely challenging for us,” said Plainfield Mayor Jim Waldorf.
There could eventually be 100,000 people living west of the DuPage River, Waldorf said, and they’ll need to get to the expressways east of the river.
“Every time a guardrail goes down there will be backups,” Waldorf said. “There are already backups that go for miles … and we have a relatively small population west of the river.”
Officials would like the board to require Canadian National to fund grade-separated crossings, which would alleviate concern about emergency vehicle access and potential traffic backups.
Train horn noise is also a concern in Plainfield, where officials recently secured a quiet zone through the center of town.
If the federal board approves the sale, the village believes Canadian National must also be required to upgrade track switches from manual to automatic and allow the Metra STAR line to use the tracks.
The village spent $7.5 million to buy 57 acres downtown in preparation for the future commuter rail line and adjacent development, which Metra plans to run on the EJ&E tracks. Canadian National has not committed to allowing the STAR line on the tracks.
Other communities have had similar concerns, such as the village of New Lenox, which created a Web site dedicated to the issue, www.nlrailsense.net.