DuPage Forest district says no to railway deal

DuPage County Forest Preserve commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a request from Canadian National Railway to buy an acre of Pratt's Wayne Woods.

The vote was a formality. President Dewey Pierotti has insisted since last week that the district can't sell the property to a private entity.

"We can't, and we wouldn't if we could," he said at Tuesday's meeting.

Canadian National officials have said the rejection is a mild setback, but not a fatal blow to their plans to purchase the 198-mile EJ&E Railroad track system for about $300 million. A portion of the system runs from Joliet to Waukegan.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican, also voiced his objections to the land purchase proposal as well as the entire takeover proposal by Canadian National. He complained about the expected quadrupling of train traffic to the line."There are a great many issues on the table, but fundamentally this comes down to a quality-of-life issue," he said. "A lot of us (in Congress) have urged caution."Canadian National is seeking the parcel in Pratt's Wayne Woods in northwestern DuPage to build a spur that would make it easier for northbound trains to head west and eastbound trains to head south. Company officials said the spur would provide much-needed relief to congested Chicago area railways.Forest preserve officials said Canadian National also was seeking land from ComEd that would have destroyed an underpass forest preserve workers and the public use to reach a dog park and remote-controlled aircraft field.County board member Pam Rion, who heads the board's transportation committee, also voiced objections to the planned purchase."This quiet little rail line that we've not really noticed is going to suddenly become very busy," she said. "There are 14 at-grade crossings in DuPage County that would cost $50 million each to change, and if you do the math, you're talking about $700 million for grade improvements just in DuPage County."Wayne Mayor Eileen Phipps said the anticipated increase in train traffic would "virtually cut our community off."Emergency access would be jeopardized with the increase, she said."One train could block us for God knows how long," Phipps said.Forest preserve officials also are worried about the environmental impact the increased train traffic and increased levels of hazardous materials being shipped might have on four forest preserves that abut the rail line.The U.S. Surface Transportation Board ultimately will decide the fate of the purchase and is preparing an environmental assessment.