Bartlett, IL (WLS) — Residents, police and fire chiefs rallied Monday night in the northwestern suburbs to vocally oppose the proposed $31 billion merger of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the Kansas City Southern Railroad.
The Northwest Suburbs Union of Mayors voiced their opposition to the proposal. Monday night’s packed public meeting had concerns about traffic jams, but more importantly what that means when you need to ask for help.
“This is a police responder’s nightmare,” said one speaker. “When time is of the essence, you can’t afford to gamble.”
MaryAnn Tardi shared her concerns as she lives south of the Itasca highway railroad tracks.
“If these tracks were to interfere with timing, many people’s lives would be lost,” she said.
“We don’t want these trains going through our town. We don’t have the ability to do this,” said Sandra Falco, who lives south of the railroad tracks in Wood Dale.
Besides quality of life concerns from increased train traffic, officials said they were also concerned about safety. Wood Dale Fire Chief James Burke says he doesn’t waste a single second when fire trucks and ambulances need to cross tracks on their way to an emergency.
“Whether it’s medical or fire, we need to be able to cross the tracks,” he said.
The meeting began with a brief presentation of a draft environmental impact statement, identifying rail-related noise as likely to be the largest expected impact. However, public comments and discussions focused on capacity, congestion and emergency response times.
“We need to consult our community’s local counterparts to assess the full safety impact of the merger, but that has not been done,” said the US Congressman representing the region. Raja Krishnamooti said.
The Surface Transportation Commission plans to have rules on the merger by the winter, and a representative of the board said it will consider all public comments before submitting the final EIS report. .
As in many towns, trains are a part of downtown Bartlett’s daily routine. JC’s Mexican Restaurant is across from the Metra station. Furthermore, he added that the idea of adding 8 to 14 freight trains, some as long as 2 miles, was not accepted by the owners.
The owner, Luz Alvarez, said, “I can’t take orders when the train comes. It’s noisy.”
Hanover Park Mayor Rod Craig said, “Nobody likes a merger because the focus is on freight, not people.
Bartlett Mayor Kevin Wallace said, “The length of these trains will close all intersections in town for a significant period of time, so it’s impossible to travel north and south.”
Experts say the board is highly unlikely to stop the merger, but communities can more realistically expect mitigation. Money to pay for solutions such as underpasses under railroad tracks.
“As part of a merger, some consideration could be given to those cities that are understandably concerned about tonnage increases,” said Joe Schwieterman, transportation expert at DePaul. I’m here.
Metra, which actually owns the track in question, is also opposed to the merger. Because they think freight trains cause more delays to their trains.
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