Winfield underpass plan not completely written off

The Winfield village board had planned to discuss giving up its claim to millions of dollars of state and federal grant money earmarked for a long-stalled pedestrian underpass.

But Village President Rudy Czech said Thursday the village board would wait to speak with consultants hired to help with downtown redevelopment before making any decisions.

Several residents in attendance - many of them current and former Winfield students - urged trustees to pursue construction of the pedestrian crossing.

"Students are still making dumb choices," said Bridget Geraghty, who as a West Chicago High School student in 2005 launched a letter-writing campaign in support of the underpass plans.

Geraghty reminded the village board of her fellow classmate, Tony Stearn, who died in November 2004 while trying to cut through a freight train that was stopped on the tracks in Winfield. The train moved and he was thrown to the ground, breaking his neck.

"It really upsets me because we all make dumb mistakes," Geraghty said. "But Tony was not the only one to do it. ... I really don't want to relive what I had to go through four years ago."

Trustees spent much of the evening justifying their decisions on whether to support the underpass project.

Despite assurances by Union Pacific Railroad that the company would pay for a roughly $313,000 funding shortfall to build the approximately $4 million underpass, the village board couldn't muster the votes last month to go forward with the project.

That spurred the railroad company to close down an aboveground crossing, which was first slated for closure in 2005. The village persuaded Union Pacific to keep it open, assuring the company it would eventually build an underpass.

Neither Czech nor any of the trustees explained why they wouldn't simply give up claim to the grant money if the village has no plans to build an underpass.

The decision to yet again stall any final decision on the project visibly flustered at least two supporters of the underpass.

"This project is like a corpse sitting in a room," Village Manager William Barlow said. "It's beginning to stink."

The village has spent about $141,000 for design and engineering work on the underpass, and village officials said Winfield would have to cover that cost regardless of whether an underpass is built.

"I think the public is beginning to lose respect for this board," Trustee Jack Bajor said. "We really need to get our act together."