Politics

Critics Of Freight Plan Take Fight To Congress

BARRINGTON, Ill. (CBS) ― Opponents of a freight train line expansion through the suburbs have taken their fight to Congress. As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, critics of the plan say it will bring crippling traffic congestion.

Near North Avenue and Northwest Highway in Barrington, it is quiet along the EJ&E tracks most of the day now. That would change if, as expected, a federal agency soon approves the purchase of the tracks by Canadian-based Canadian National.

The railroad plans to run freight trains that could be one mile or more in length through the Chicago suburbs. It would create gigantic traffic jams, for example, along Northwest Highway.

Barrington Village President Karen Darch said, "People are not happy. There were more than 3,000 written comments."

Officials in Barrington are outraged that the Canadian railroad has offered to pay relatively little, only four percent, of what Barrington claims the changes will cost local taxpayers.

"The community, the state, the American taxpayers should not have to pay for CN to have a faster route and to increase their profit at our expense," Darch said.

She and other local officials took their complaints to a Congressional hearing Tuesday in Chicago, where a Congressman from Rockford ridiculed a report that's been prepared for the federal agency that seems poised to authorize an expansion of freight train service through the area.

U.S. Rep. Donald Manzullo said, "There are two volumes of this (report) and they didn't even examine all the intersections that are involved. We don't even know the number of trains that CN eventually wants to run on those tracks. They won't tell us that."

Aurora Mayor Thomas Weisner, said, "We're talking about a billion dollars of mitigation of underpasses, overpasses, etc., that will be required as a result of this deal and Canadian National's not ready to step up."

In the face of those billion dollar cost estimates from opponents, Canadian National has offered $40 million for crossing upgrades. But Darch and a spokeswoman for the state of Illinois said it could cost $100 million for one crossing in Barrington.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---