Opinion: Fighting the railroad can be a lonely battle
(The following column by Guy Tridgell appeared on the Southtown Star website on September 22, 2009.)
CHICAGO — And then there was one. In the summer of 2008, from the Indiana state line to Joliet, our suburbs presented a united front. Their cause was the Canadian National Railway's proposed purchase of the EJ&E Railroad.
For $300 million, CN wanted the 198 miles of EJ&E tracks rimming the Chicago area as reliever line for its five sets of tracks heading in and out of city. But the towns along the "J" complained, forcefully, that CN's plans would overrun them with heavy freight traffic, cutting off one side of their communities from the other and making driving an exercise in frustration while turning up the volume on train noise.
Since then, they have dropped like flies.
In exchange for abandoning their opposition, Joliet, Matteson, Richton Park, Frankfort, Chicago Heights and Mokena signed deals with CN for a few million dollars here and there to pay for things such as sound walls, berms and fences to shield them from the ruckus on the EJ&E.
Last week, Park Forest became the latest to fall.
An agreement between CN and the village provides $7 million for a package of improvements, topped by the reconstruction of Orchard Drive over the EJ&E tracks.
By CN's count, that means 19 out of 33 communities along the EJ&E have accepted what essentially amounts to hush money.
It also means New Lenox becomes the lone south suburb still holding out against CN.
New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann was careful not to blame anyone for cutting a deal with the railroad, but it was clear when I spoke with him that he would have appreciated some support.
"Everybody has got to do what is best for their community," Baldermann said. "I wouldn't criticize anybody for doing that, but I always felt there was strength in numbers."
(Will County, along with a few west and northwest suburbs, is vowing to continue to try blocking CN's acquisition of the EJ&E, but you have to wonder how much of a fight is really left when nearly every community in the county isn't willing to go along for the ride.)
What happened to the unity, fellas?
The Surface Transportation Board, the little corner of the U.S. Department of Transportation that weighs in on railroad mergers and sales, gave its OK on Dec. 24 to the EJ&E purchase.
Although the board has been asked to reconsider its decision, the ruling was a big dose of reality.
Despite the best arguments against a railroad for doing whatever it wants to do, they usually don't have any effect.
Since this country was founded, the railroads have historically had their way with the federal government. If you're not going to beat them, you might as well deal with them and make the best of it, according to the line of thinking in several communities.
Eight of the agreements between CN and the various suburbs were reached after the board's Christmas Eve ruling, CN spokesman Patrick Waldron said. He added that CN already has eclipsed the $60 million set aside to make the EJ&E deal more palatable to towns along the line.
"We continue to talk to communities," Waldron said. "We would be very pleased if there were more agreements."
For New Lenox, there's a lot at stake.
The village has five street crossings on the EJ&E - pretty much every major north-south road in town. The arrival of Silver Cross Hospital in 2011 from Joliet, Baldermann said, would have little benefit to residents south of the tracks because of the extra trains on the EJ&E.
The village is demanding CN pay millions of dollars for a bridge or tunnel to carry vehicle traffic over or under the tracks on at least one road - preferably Gougar Road.
That's not going to happen.
The mayor said his last discussions with CN regarding the EJ&E were almost a year ago.
"That line cuts our town in two," Baldermann said. "I have yet to hear from anybody who wishes we would have done anything differently."
Taking a hard line comes with risks.
Along the EJ&E, loneliness is one of them.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
