THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2008

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Proposal To Shift Train Traffic Gaining Steam

By TODD WESSELL

Journal & Topics Editor

If you hear rumblings west of here, it could be the complaints and unrest a proposed $400 million rail improvement project has generated. Locally, you can hardly hear a whimper.

A proposal for the federal government to approve the sale of EJ&E Railroad to the Canadian National Railroad is fueling resentment from residents who live west of Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect and Prospect Hts. They are fearful that if the sale is permitted, rail traffic in communities like Hoffman Estates, Barrington and Lake Zurich will increase dramatically. In this area, the number of long, frustrating trains will decrease by at least 19 per day.

Several public hearings have been held during the last few months where homeowners have complained loudly about fears that more trains will decrease the quality of their lives. Should the Canadian National receive government approval, the number of trains using the EJ&E line, which links Indiana with Wisconsin, would increase from the current level of approximately five per day to more than 20. Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia, who is also president of the Northwest Municipal Conference, said yesterday (Tuesday) that the sale would mean 19 fewer trains bisecting portions of Rosemont, Des Plaines, Mt. Prospect, Prospect Hts. and communities to the north. That means a significant decrease in traffic tie-ups. This area is often besieged by long, slow moving trains some measuring more than a mile in length. The Canadian National line is the old Soo Line Railroad that crosses Pratt Street, Touhy Avenue, Oakton Street, Prairie Avenue, Thacker Street and Golf and Rand roads.

"I think, like everyone in Des Plaines and Mt. Prospect, that they'll be happy to see the trains diverted," said Arredia. "If I lived in Barrington or Lake Zurich I wouldn't be happy." He said some mayors, who represent towns that area members of the Northwest Municipal Conference "are violently against" the sale proposal. "I don't blame them," Arredia said. He said the conference as a whole has not voted on the matter.

Canadian National wants to pay $300 million for the purchase of EJ&E and then spend another $100 million to make infrastructure improvements.