(The following story by Janet Lundquist appeared on the Plainfield Sun website on January 16, 2009.)
PLAINFIELD, Ill. — Plainfield village officials are looking to join the legal fight against Canadian National’s purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway.
The purchase, which could result in a train rolling across Plainfield’s 16 street-level crossings every 20 minutes, was approved Dec. 24 by the Surface Transportation Board.
Village board members generally agree they want to litigate, but did not decide whether to take action as an individual village or to join other lawsuits filed by Will County and The Regional Answer to Canadian National, a coalition of communities that banded together to fight the purchase.
Both Will County and the village of Barrington have filed petitions with the STB for a stay, asking the federal agency to put the approval on hold until all legal appeals are exhausted.
Plainfield joined TRAC in June and contributed $10,000 to the organization. TRAC has hired an attorney and is now looking for $7,500 in additional funding, said Michael Schwarz, a village planner.
“I don’t believe there’s any way we can overcome the situation without vigorous litigation,” said Mayor Jim Waldorf.
As part of the purchase, CN agreed to provide mitigation projects, including help funding bridge projects in Aurora and Lynwood.
In Plainfield, CN agreed to provide cameras at Plainfield Fire Protection District’s Station 3 on 119th Street so emergency responders can monitor rail crossings and a traffic advisory sign at Plainfield-Naperville Road and Route 59 so drivers won’t block the railroad tracks.
Village officials want to emphasize the importance of bridges over the railroad crossings.
If a train breaks down, for example, it could block two road crossings and cause a 10-mile detour for emergency vehicles, said Plainfield Fire Chief John Eichelberger.
In July, Plainfield presented cost estimates for overpasses or underpasses at six of the village’s busiest crossings along the EJ&E.
Including land acquisition, engineering and construction, it could cost upward of $300 million 10 years from now to build roads over or under the railroad tracks on 119th Street, 127th Street, 135th Street, 143rd Street, Route 126 and Renwick Road.