(The following story by Paige Winfield appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on April 10.)
CHICAGO — Dozens of local municipal and county leaders are gathering Friday to organize their battle against the hotly disputed sale of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.
Some 40 area officials from the collar counties and Indiana are expected to organize a board of directors for the coalition and might discuss hiring a lobbyist, said DuPage County Board member Jim Healy of Naperville.
“(The sale) is going to adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of residents on either side of the railroad tracks,” said Healy, who said Aurora and Naperville would be the areas most impacted by the sale because of their numerous at-grade crossings.
If the Surface Transportation Board allows the Canadian National Railway to purchase the line, rail traffic in the region will grow by 400 percent and 21 grade crossings in DuPage County will be affected.
Along with board member Pam Rion of Bloomingdale, Healy has been working for months with local officials to form the coalition.
Naperville and Aurora both have voted to join the consortium, and the DuPage County Board this week voted 15-2 to contribute up to $10,000 to the effort.
Rion said local leaders are strongly unified against the sale and are ready to take on what she calls an “uphill fight.”
“This issue has a monumental impact to this region,” she said. “The one advantage you have is every entity has joined forces in one unanimous voice to say this isn’t good for the region.”
With Illinois Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin; members of Congress including Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale; and many state senators and representatives opposing the sale, Healy said he believes it might actually be halted.
“With all these partners coming together, I’m not sure this is going to pass the Transportation Board,” he said. “I think there’s a very good chance … the mitigation requirements placed on it will be so onerous that they will decide not to go forward.”