Comment EI-13833
Received or sent (printed as 9/29/2008)
I am greatly concerned about the impact CN's acquisiton of EJ&E will have on my community. I grew up in Barrington and moved back with my husband and two very young children two years ago to be near family and friends and so that our kids would have a wonderful, safe place to grow up. CN's acquistion of the RR line greatly jeopardizes that; the traffic and safety concerns are staggering. Getting to schools and the doctor / hospital will be greatly incumbered by CN. The high school sits next to the tracks - what if there is a rail accident? How many teenagers and kids will try to beat out the train to get to class on time? The traffic gridlock will not only encumber businesses but will have a great negative impact on our quality of life. I am greatly concerned about our ability to get to the hospital in an emergency. The EJ&J line crosses all our routes to the nearest hospital. How awful would it be if we missed our opportunity to reverse the impact of terrible accident or medical situation because we were waiting for cargo to go by? The EJ&E line runs in back of our subdivision. Again, a major safety, noise and pollution concern - not to mention the impact on our home value. The increase in traffic only means an increase in the likelihood of accidents and the noise and pollution that go along with freight. This deal literally threatens every aspect of our lives: our ability and options in getting to and from work; our children's safety in going to and from school and even playing in our neighborhoods as motorists try to find alternate routes to bypass traffic; our ability to get medical attention; the safety of our children once they are at school; our ability to get to and support our downtown businesses and efforts to maintain a thriving community; our home investments and quality of life in them.
Submitted by: Debra Johnson · Barrington, 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-13833 · back to the docket sheet