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Thank you for your overwhelming response to my invitation to attend one of the Surface Transportation Board’s scoping meetings last week. Almost 1,700 people showed up at the scoping sessions at the Crown Plaza in Mundelein and the Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington. Residents from across the district attended and I was told by one Surface Transportation Board employee they had never seen anything like it.
The Canadian National Railroad (CN) is attempting to purchase the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern (EJ&E) rail line, which cuts through the 8th district from Hoffman Estates, through South Barrington, Barrington Hills, Barrington, Deer Park, Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods and Mundelein to Waukegan. CN has estimated an increase in freight traffic on this line from 5 to 20 additional freight trains per day.
Such an increase in rail traffic could have severe impact on our region’s already congested roads.
This issue has the potential to affect nearly all of the 8th District, as traffic tie-ups on major arterial roads could lead to region-wide backups. The impact to our quality of life is clear, but I also spoke to many constituents at the Barrington Scoping meeting on January 9th who had real concerns for their safety and the safety of their families.
Some examples of the concerns I heard included:
· Traffic tie-ups that would strangle local communities, leaving children alone at school without a ride after dark.
· Businesses without access to either employees or customers.
· Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals from Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital who are concerned that increased freight traffic would delay first responders and people in medical emergencies. Such delays can mean life or death for victims of an accident or patients in cardiac arrest.
· Police are concerned that their response to emergency calls would be slowed by traffic delays.
· Local fire officials who said that a fire doubles in size every minute, so that minutes spent waiting for a passing freight train can make the difference between a battle won or lost for a home in flames.
· Real estate professionals and home-owners said home values would decline due to traffic gridlock, the vibrations of passing freight trains, and the increased risk of train accidents.
The Surface Transportation Board is now accepting comments about what topics and level of detail should be included in the environmental review. These comments must be submitted by Feb. 1. You can submit a comment by postal mail or via the web.
Please click here to go to my website, where you can see details on how to submit comments and see a description of how my office has been working on this issue.
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January 22, 2008
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