Comment EI-12248
Received or sent (printed as 9/20/2008)
I am voicing my concern regarding the sale of the EJ&E to CN. The residents in the Plainfield / Joliet area are mired in traffic congestion and gridlock now, the sale of the EJ&E would just add to it. We have been attempting to get a hospital approved in the area and the state board has rejected it at least seven times; this hospital was, in part, to deal with the current levels of congestion and long delays at EJ&E at grade crossings. The fact is: people are dying in route to the nearest hospital due to this congestion and gridlock. What should be a maximum of 10 minutes to get to a hospital takes, on average, 40 minutes. How many deaths will occur if the CN is allowed to proceed with their expansion? With 2 mile long trains? I urge the STB to reject the sale of the EJ&E to CN unless the following conditions are met: 1. Current At Grade Crossings in and around Plainfield / Joliet be changed to under or over pass design. 2. Current plans for Edwards Hospital are approved and allowed to proceed without interference from the state board. This hospital must be made available to the public! 3. Noise abatements be made manditory wherever tracks enter residential areas. 4. No rail traffic permitted during the hours of 9pm to 9am (the 9am hour selected so children going to school, via bus, are not stalled at at-grade crossings). The STB needs to reject the sale of the EJ&E to CN. Our current congestion, noise and inability to get to a local hospital in a timely manner are just some of the major reasons. There is also the environmental impact to consider. Please do the right thing and reject this sale until at least some of the recommendations listed herein are adopted as a condition of sale. Additionally, the CN must bear 100% of the costs related to those changes. Thank You
Submitted by: Michael Ciric · Plainfield, 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-12248 · back to the docket sheet