(The following story by Janet Lundquist appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on July 31.)
PLAINFIELD, Ill. — Village officials urged residents to join them in fighting the potential sale of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line to a Canadian company that could drastically increase the number of trains rolling through town each day.
“I’d hope people would be outraged by this particular sale,” Trustee Jim Racich said Monday, urging residents to write letters to their congressmen.
Trustees also say they would not be opposed to hiring a lobbyist to work on behalf of the village and other communities opposing Canadian National Railway’s plan to buy the rail line.
“I do not think Canadian National is going to be a good corporate neighbor,” said Trustee Jeff Dement. “They’re going to jam this thing through as quick and easy as possible. If there are things we want, we’ve got to fight tooth and nail for it.”
Canadian National has said it 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.
Impact on Plainfield
As it is, traffic backs up daily at the village’s 16 street-level crossings along the EJ&E tracks. If the sale goes through, there could be a train chugging through Plainfield every 20 minutes.
In June, village board members unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement to join The Regional Answer to Canadian National (TRAC) and donate $10,000 to the cause.
The board also supported a statement of opposition to the possible Canadian National purchase of the EJ&E.
Earlier this month village staff members 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, Illinois 126 and Renwick Road.
Comment period
On Friday the Surface Transportation Board released a draft environmental impact statement. In the 54-page executive summary, the Surface Transportation Board acknowledges CN’s estimate for the increased number of trains is reasonable, although it would be close to the line’s maximum capacity.
But the board discounted the company’s claim that more freight trains mean fewer trucks on the roads and struck down a request to complete the entire sale process by Dec. 31.
There is now a 60-day public comment period on the draft report, and a series of public hearings have been set.
Public meetings will be Sept. 10 at West Aurora High School, 1201 W. New York St. in Aurora and Sept. 11 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, 411 S. Larkin Ave. in Joliet.
Both meetings will begin with an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. followed by a public meeting from 6 to 9 p.m.
The draft environmental impact statement may be viewed at www.stbfinancedocket35087.com/ html/deis-report.html
Form letters to the Surface Transportation Board and to Congress are available on the village’s Web site, www.plainfield-il.org/news/eje.php.