(The following story by Janet Lundquist appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on June 17.)
PLAINFIELD, Ill. — Plainfield officials have enlisted the support of a federal ally in their concerns about the possible sale of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern railroad to the Canadian National Railway.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale, and village officials toured some of the railroad crossings that could be exponentially busier if the CN purchase is approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a merger of this kind in a densely populated area,” Biggert said, who added she’d like to get members of the STB out to ride the EJ&E rails. “I have real concerns about it.”
As it is, traffic backs up daily at the village’s 16 at-grade crossings along the EJ&E tracks. If the sale goes through, there could be a train rumbling through Plainfield every 20 minutes, said Mayor James Waldorf.
Last fall, a stalled train blocked several intersections for 45 minutes on a weekday afternoon, prompting the Plainfield School District to call parents to tell them buses would be late.
“Their proposal could shut down the community each time a train goes through,” said Plainfield Police Chief Don Bennett. “And traffic may not recover before the next train comes through.”
Similar complaints have been made by officials in Aurora, Naperville and other communities along the EJ&E line.
If the sale is approved, 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.
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 jams.
Canadian National is offering to pay 10 percent, or $40 million, of needed grade crossing work.
Biggert and Waldorf said they were not sure Canadian National would be willing to do much more to help communities deal with the congestion.
“They talk a good game, but we haven’t seen any commitments made,” Waldorf said. “I have yet to see a decision made, or anything confirmed except that they want to get the deal done and start running those trains.”