WASHINGTON — Still bidding to stop or delay the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern — and hinting at legal action if that effort fails — a group of Chicago suburbs has made a new filing to the Surface Transportation Board calling for a reconsideration of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, as it regards mitigation efforts sought by those communities.
The Coalition to Stop CPKC, an association of eight communities and DuPage County, Ill., says in the filing on Monday, Feb. 27, that criticisms by STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis of a grade crossing delay analysis sponsored by the coalition “were mischaracterizations … or were, frankly, entirely wrong.
“The Coalition is reserving all its rights to seek review of the [environmental impact statement] and the final decision of the Surface Transportation Board … but we are compelled to raise several major items prior to issuance of the final decision” and request that the OEA reconsider its conclusion, the filing states.
The five-page document seeks to refute the office’s findings regarding train length and frequency, says the OEA’s use of averages and aggregation dilutes the actual impact on the communities, questions criticism of the data in the coalition’s study, and says the OEA incorrectly applied data the coalition says supports requests for grade-crossing separation at six locations.
The latest filing comes after four members of the Illinois Congressional delegation twice wrote the STB asking for a delay on the CP-KCS decision, most recently on Feb. 23, when they cited the East Palestine derailment and potential for increased hazardous-materials moves as requiring further study [see “Illinois legislators cite Ohio derailment …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 25, 2023].
Mayors from the coalition communities, as well as some state legislators, also invoked the East Palestine derailment in calling for a delay on the merger decision in a Monday press conference, the suburban Daily Herald newspaper reports, with Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain saying, “It’s a nightmare for me, and I think very mayor thinks the same thing: ‘What happens if that happens in my town?’”
All butt hurt over a bad review of a home cooked crossing report? And you want to take that to court?
This is getting really close to Karen territory.
Hey, its their right to petition their representatives over this, but at least hire professionals to produce your reports in the correct format.
I get the concerns, but I am also familiar with the MILW lines, the only rational & fact based objection I have seen is with Metra. One of those was none of Metra’s business and the other is valid at Cragin.
The Elgin Mayor might want to visit the Elgin Historical Society at Old Main to acquaint himself with railroad history in Elgin. Trains have been a part of Elgin since shortly after the Giffords first saw the Fox River and set up camp.
Oh, to be an attorney. Ka-ching!
The explanation is simple. They are nothing but a bunch of whiney crybaby NIMBYs.
Someone needs to ask Elgin Mayor Kaptain why his little town is so special compared with the rest of us who live in the Chicago Region. There are dozens of towns and communities just like Elgin that have the same risk (or much higher). Freight volumes on the UP-West Line and the BNSF Racetrack are several times higher than they will ever be on the line running through Elgin. Mayor Dave get over it!!!
JAMES — Re: BNSF (ex-Burlington). If freights are so awful and so threatening, how is it that these suburbs are so attractive with housing, shopping and restaurants directly by the tracks?
Here’s the secret sauce, the best rail commuter service in the region and some of the best public schools in the nation. Well before Metra the CBQ always has the absolute BEST commuter service and 50 years ago the Milwaukee Road was CRAP! In 1970 the CBQ, GN and NP merged to create the largest freight railroad in North America. A few years later the Milwaukee Road stumbled into bankruptcy and oblivion.
But all of us with any common sense know the trade-off. It may not be that relevant anymore as commuting patterns change, but housing values in DuPage County are the highest in the towns with good rail service and then they diminish the further you get away from the tacks.