New Lenox Rail Sense

Rally at Lincoln-Way Central High School

New Lenox, Ill. / Sept. 10, 2008 / Photos supplied by Village of New Lenox

Mayor Tim Baldermann addresses an audience of nearly 500 people:

People line up to register prior to the rally. Corey Singer, Will County Board member and chairman of the Forest Preserve board, is in foreground (navy blazer).  Jim Moustis, County Board Chairman, is partially obscured behind Singer.

An attorney from the New Lenox law firm, Querry & Harrow, addresses the crowd:

Mokena Mayor Joe Werner:

September 10, 2008 / By KIM SMITH / Joliet Herald News

THE DAY BEFORE A PUBLIC HEARING, LOCAL POLITICIANS BRING RESIDENTS TOGETHER TO OPPOSE EJ&E PURCHASE. 

NEW LENOX — Opponents of Canadian National Railway nearly filled the 650-seat Lincoln-Way High School auditorium Wednesday night as politicians urged folks to write letters voicing their concerns about the negative impacts the sale of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway would have in our area.

The rally started with a video showing emergency vehicles stopped at a railroad crossing, telling the tale of someone in cardiac arrest waiting for the train to pass and a fire truck waiting just across the busy tracks from a burning home.

Read the complete article   /   View photos

September 10, 2008 / By ANDRE SALLES / Aurora Beacon News

Board gets earful of concerns surrounding possible sale 

AURORA — Less than an hour into Tuesday night’s hearing on a controversial railroad sale proposal, Aurora resident John Lieck stepped up to the microphone, air horn in hand.

Lieck lives on Keating Drive, not far from the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway tracks that run through the far East Side. If Canadian National Railway Company is allowed to buy those tracks, and significantly increase the number of trains barreling over them, Lieck said, his nights will go something like this:

Read the complete article

September 9, 2008 / By BOB OKON / Joliet Herald News

JOLIET — Some local political leaders hope to rev up their residents for a public hearing in Joliet this week on Canadian National Railway’s plan to expand operations in Will County and elsewhere.  The hearing is 6-9 p.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn at Larkin Avenue and Interstate 80.

New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann will lead a public rally in New Lenox the night before the hearing, hoping to inspire residents to testify in opposition to the railroad at the hearing.

Read the complete article (including interview with New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann)

September 8, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

Federal regulators on Monday denied the Canadian National Railway Co.’s demand for early approval of its plan to buy a suburban railroad, a decision likely to draw a federal court into the proposal to re-route freight trains out of Chicago.

Read the complete article

Sep 06, 2008 / Reuters News Agency (published in Toronto Star)

Railway says it would need millions in American tax dollars to make project more palatable to locals

BARRINGTON, Ill.–By all accounts, America will need more rail tracks in the coming years to handle freight for a growing population’s needs, but laying down any new rails is a sure way to stir up fierce local opposition.

Rarely is local opposition as well-organized and well-funded as here in the leafy, wealthy Chicago suburb of Barrington, where politicians and residents are protesting Canadian National Railway’s proposed acquisition and expansion of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway (EJ&E).

Read the complete article

Posted August 29, 2008 / By the Village of New Lenox

NEW LENOX MOVES TO BLOCK CN RAIL PLAN

Attendance at Rally and Public Hearing Urged

NEW LENOX, IL-New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann is urging residents to rally behind the village’s decision to aggressively fight the proposed acquisition of the EJ&E Railway by the CN Railway.

“We had hoped that the CN would partner with us to lessen the impacts of a fourfold increase in train traffic through the village if the plan is approved, but it’s clear that the CN has no interest in doing this,” Baldermann said.

“Therefore, New Lenox will go on record with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) in opposition and we will testify before the STB at a public hearing in Joliet next month,” he said.

New Lenox residents are encouraged to attend the hearing to be held September 11, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn at I-80 and Larkin Avenue. Moreover, the village will hold a community rally on September 10 at 7:00 p.m. at Lincoln-Way Central High School Auditorium (1801 East Lincoln Highway). Residents are also urged to write letters of opposition to the STB. Details on how to do this can be found at www.nlrailsense.net.

Baldermann said that New Lenox joined TRAC (The Regional Answer to Canadian National), a marshalling point for communities opposing the CN plan.

There are five at-grade rail crossings with the EJ&E, which operates six trains daily through town. The CN would increase that to 28 trains daily. Moreover, these are long, heavy freight trains. New Lenox and other communities are concerned about the blockage of multiple crossings if a train breaks down or stops for signals. “We are obviously concerned about the ability of first responders to answer calls for help and the traffic backups that could occur,” Baldermann said.

Surprised by the level of opposition, the STB ordered an environmental impact study of the CN plan, but the study, released in July, concluded that there would be no adverse impacts on New Lenox. “Whatever incentive the CN may have had to talk with us about grade separations or other mitigation evaporated with the conclusions of that report and we have no alternative but to fight,” Baldermann said.

NEW LENOX RESIDENTS:

Download a window poster

Download a flyer about the rally

August 26, 2008 / By Richard Wronski and Gary Gibula / Chicago Chicago Tribune /
 
Rail company will pay for various repairs in exchange for support

As a new round of public meetings began Monday on the controversial acquisition of a suburban railroad, Canadian National Railway Co. reported an agreement with one of the towns facing a potentially sharp increase in freight traffic. CN has agreed to pay for track improvements and other updates along the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway through Joliet-a move intended to lessen the impact of additional freight trains at two busy rail crossings.

Read the complete article / view the video

August 21, 2008 / BY DAN CAMPANA / Fox Valley Villages Sun

AURORA — The Surface Transportation Board has been “unwilling” to change the site of a public meeting on Canadian National Railway’s plan to buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, according to Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner.

On Friday, officials from Aurora and Naperville went public with their disappointment over the federal agency’s decision to use West Aurora High School — several miles from the rail line sale’s hot zone — to host public comment on Sept. 9.

Read the complete article

August 21, 2008 / By Casey Toner / Southtown Star

Park Forest and Matteson officials are urging residents to speak their minds at a public forum regarding Canadian National Railroad’s proposed acquisition of the EJ&E railway tracks.

Read the complete article