Comment EI-12011
Received or sent (printed as 9/19/2008)
I oppose the sale of the EJ&E RR. to the Canadian National/Grand Trunk RR..I have attended the hearing at the Matteson holiday Inn on Aug.25,2008 also was at the earlier presenation at the same location several months earlier. Received the report from your department , downloaded it and saw how the take over by the CN & GT RR would drastically effect my life and that of all of the surroundly town that the EJ&E goes through. First of all the orginal time line to render a decision was several years down the road now it has moved up to a much sooner date.Not soon enough for the CN so they have file to sue for a 12/31/08 date. Hold your ground and be fair to all. I gave a dicitation at the earlier meeting and was going to speak at the hearing,BUT while looking at the over view maps and noticing that they finally showed all the sidings (that CN leases from the EJ)that are right behind my home. there was a different 8x14 layout right by my area. I and my neighbor were informed that it was the new configuration that the CN had just given them and you only had several copies available, A STB rep gave us one of the copies of the new design of the north - south interchange to the EJ trackage. It come in by my house next to the no name creek. All my comments that I gave earlier are still the same. The CN has been impossible to talk to about security and safety concerns at the sidings. New concerns a large number of trains going through my neighborhood at higher speeds , the daily coal train to the Indiana power plant shake our house now. But it will not be a fast trains there will be standing trains that are East bound and are blocked by the CTX RR in Chicago Heights. Big traffic tie ups and people in the Matteson,Park Forest and chicago Heights area are denied speedy service for emergency services. Let us not forget the school buses they will also be delayed. We have two existing under passes in our area. The one on Orchard in Park Forest and the one in Matteson on Goveners Hwy (flooded out for several days in recent rains). This and a stopped train tied up traffic on main street for about 6 blocks. We are told of the Butler St under pass in Chicago Heights. (one lane) on a blind curve It is called a game of chicken and drivers have been injured there over who is to back up. I have a lot of deer and coyotes that cross over the tracks right behind my house. Yes there is stiil open areas and parks around our homes and they roam free (for now). I have lived next to railroads most of my life and can live with the exisiting noises and ocasional house shaking but this is asking us to put up with to much!! A long time ago I was thanked by the EJ&E for calling the EJ&E about hearing strange noises in the wee hours of the morning ( late sixties). It turns out that someone was trying to derail a ammunition train from the joliet arsenal. Or so I was told. Now days if you see or hear any thing out of the norm you can not reach anyone st the RR's even the police department have a problem! I know you have heard a lot of comments so thank you for reading mine. Just for your information my copy of the interchange was given to the offical of Park Forest as there were no more copies to give out that night and the Web site now refelect it. Thanks again, Tony and Denise Mielcarz
Submitted by: Anthony Mielcarz · Park Forest, il
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-35087/comment/EI-12011 · back to the docket sheet