Kane County might oppose EJ&E plan, but willing to deal

If the Canadian National Railway Co. wants its ticket punched on a pending $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co., the foreign company might have to signal it's willing to compromise with opposing communities and entities like Kane County by installing underpasses and overpasses at major crossings.

The Kane County Transportation Committee struggled Monday with how sternly it should word a county resolution that will act as the area's input on the pending sale. DuPage and Will counties have already bashed the deal as some communities would see up to five times as many freight trains rumble through town a day as they do now. The sale would reroute train traffic from Chicago and suburban Cook County into the collar counties.

Gerald Jones of Aurora and John Hoscheit of St. Charles urged a resolution that asks for a rejection of the railway sale.

Hoscheit said the county will dread the addition of some 24 more freight trains that clog traffic and provide no benefit to local businesses. Hoscheit said he's particularly concerned about exacerbating traffic problems on Route 64 because it's one of the main railway crossings that brings traffic over the trains rather than making cars stop. More trains on other roads mean more commuters using Route 64 to avoid the trains.

Hoscheit also fears an undermining of the Stearns Road Corridor improvements as people avoid the area because of the additional train traffic. The county, state and federal governments have about $150 million invested in the Stearns improvements.

The committee passed a resolution, which asks for mandatory funding to construct underpasses and overpasses at major crossings. So far, the Canadian National Railway has only offered about $40 million for those improvements, an amount already labeled insufficient by opposing communities.

"This is not about not supporting the affected communities, because we do," committee Chairman Bill Wyatt of Aurora said. "If it's going to happen, we need to extract the maximum benefit for citizens."