Barrington reopens argument on CN rail underpass

Barrington is touting new evidence in its long-running argument that Canadian National should pay a hefty portion of the cost to build a road underpass where Northwest Highway crosses the railway’s tracks in the village.

But CN officials already area preparing a response asking that the new request be denied.

Barrington Village President Karen Darch said new data found by the village’s consultants at Civiltech Engineering shows that traffic delay impacts at the Barrington intersection will increase by 116 to 122 hours daily. That’s more than the 114 hours at U.S. Route 34 in Aurora, where the federal Surface Transportation Board has ordered a grade separation at the tracks.

Hours of daily delay account for the combined total time lost by all motorists at the intersections each day.

“We are hopeful the STB will seriously consider this,” Darch said at Monday’s village board meeting. “This is definitely not a sprint, this is a marathon. And this is another important step in that marathon.”

Darch said Barrington is still aiming for CN to pay 84 percent of the expected $69 million cost for an underpass, which is in preliminary engineering stages.

CN spokesman Patrick Waldron said the railway’s response to Barrington’s petition will outline specific reasons for denial. But the bottom line is that the STB already evaluated Barrington’s request and denied the need for a grade separation at Northwest Highway, he said.

Nevertheless, CN stands ready and willing to work with Barrington on the logistics of any type of underpass being planned, Waldron added. For the time being, though, no specific monetary commitment can be named, he said.

While the STB decided earlier this year against requiring CN to help fund a Barrington underpass, it is requiring CN to pay for 67 percent of the underpass costs in Aurora and 78.5 percent for another in Lynwood.

Barrington officials maintain that the STB has jurisdiction over CN’s environmental responsibilities for the newly purchased railroad until January 2015.