Wayne builds case against EJ&E buyout
Although the village of Wayne is a relatively small town, it is getting ready to make some big noise about the proposed buyout of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line by the Canadian National Railroad.
Wayne residents and several political leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss potential effects of the acquisition, which has been meeting resistance from affected suburbs including West Chicago, Naperville, Warrenville, Aurora, and Barrington.
Elected officials, including newly elected Congressman Bill Foster, Congressional candidate Jim Oberweis, state Rep. Randy Ramey, DuPage County Board member Pam Rion, West Chicago Mayor Mike Kwasman, and St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitt were present for the meeting.
"They (CN Railroad) are coming to our town and they don't know what we are about, and they don't care," said Wayne Village President Eileen Phipps.
Currently, 4.4 trains pass through Wayne on the EJ&E tracks on a daily basis. If the buyout goes through, that number would increase to 24.4 trains per day in the first three years.
Congressman Bill Foster pointed out that CN's application to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which will make the final decision on whether the sale will go through, does not place limits on how much rail traffic will pass through the village beyond three years.
Foster, and eight other United States representatives including Melissa Bean, Jerry Costello, Donald Manzullo, Judy Biggert, Timothy Johnson, and Peter Roskam, have joined together in their opposition to the buyout, and have written a letter to the Surface Transportation Board urging officials not to approve it.
"The odds are certainly against us," Foster pointed out, saying that of the last 264 cases of this nature that have gone before the board, only one has been turned down.
"I intend to support you strongly on this because the arguments are pretty clear," he said.
In their own letter to the Surface Transportation Board, Wayne officials outlined several concerns about how the potential sale of EJ&E will affect their village, including emergency vehicle delays, a 1,258 increase in daily carloads of hazardous materials traveling through the village, traffic interference, an increased risk of accidents, noise vibration and air quality, and impacts on the Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve.
"They are not bringing jobs, they are not bringing commerce. They are bringing traffic, they are bringing noise and hazardous materials," said Phipps.
Many Wayne residents who were hearing about all of the potential problems from the buyout for the first time were prepared to do what they can to make sure it doesn't happen.
"It's a lot worse than I thought it was," said 13-year resident Peggy Holnick, who said she was concerned about the increased train traffic limiting her ability to travel around town, as well as hazardous material being transported so frequently through the village.
"It would have an impact on everything," she said.
Residents were encouraged to write their senators as well as congressman to make their voices heard, as well as the members of the Surface Transportation Board.