(The following story by Lauren Traut appeared on the Frankfort Station website on July 1.)
FRANKFORT, Ill. — Frankfort Village Administrator Jerry Ducay joined representatives from the Surface Transportation Board, Mayor Richard Daley and other area representatives Wednesday, June 25, for a meeting regarding the progression of the acquisition of EJ & E Railroad by Canadian National.
Staff members from STB were available to answer questions as part of the Metropolitan Mayors Congress, Ducay said. The brunt of the questions answered addressed the Environmental Impact Study surrounding the acquisition — and the deadlines set.
After the Environmental Impact Study is completed, the STB issues a draft. After the draft is made public, the communities affected by the acquisition have 45 days to comment. Canadian National has asked that the publication date of the draft be moved up, as well as requested that specific deadlines be set for other steps in the process, Ducay said.
Residents who would be affected by the acquisition countered with a request for the deadlines to remain the same.
Ducay said he expects the draft could be issued within 30 days.
He added he asked that the draft not be issued sooner, to allow ample time to prepare engineers the village has hired to review the document.
“I wanted to make sure they’re ready,” Ducay said, on behalf of the village of Frankfort and the Will County Governmental League.
With as many as 30 communities possibly affected by the acquisition, Ducay hoped for more time allowed for comments.
“The hope is, the more time for review, the better,” Ducay said.
At its June 16 board meeting, the Frankfort Village Board approved an intergovernmental agreement with The Regional Answer to Canadian National (TRAC), a coalition of west and southwest suburbs opposed to the possible deal.
Along with adopting the intergovernmental agreement, the village board also approved spending up to $10,000 for lobbying and legal fees to support its claim that should Canadian National (CN) acquire the EJ & E line the extra railway traffic will have an adverse effect on public health, safety, welfare and vehicular traffic.
CN hopes to acquire EJ & E’s nearly 200 miles of track that encircle Chicago from Waukegan through Joliet and east to Gary, Ind. to reroute some of its freight traffic from congested Chicago. Acquiring the rail line would likely cost CN around $300 million.
The village’s approval of TRAC is its latest try at stopping the sale.
“TRAC creates a single voice,” Ducay said. “Regionally, we needed one voice to speak for us all. The idea is TRAC creates that single source of information.”