Comment EI-4730
Received or sent (printed as 1/30/2008)
Regarding the purchase of the EJ&E railway by CNN: I can only speak of the negative impact that this transaction will have on the area near my home, but I'm sure the same applies for many of the other communities that the tracks run through. IN MY AREA SPECIFICALLY (Bridlewood Subdivision), the tracks cross over Shoefactory Rd. in Hoffman Estates. This is the street we use everyday from our subdivision. One side of our subdivision runs along the railroad tracks as does one side of another subdivsion across from ours. The increase in trains will surely cause delays for traffic, school buses, emergency vehicles and daily traffic. It will become a hazard to children and others who walk, jog, run or bike across these tracks to the bike/running path that winds through the forest preserve area adjacent to the tracks. Some homes are approx. 100 feet away from the tracks. 20+ trains a day would be an unimaginable amount of noise, vibrations, smell, possible hazardous material, etc....to deal with. The wildlife in the adjacent forest preserve will surely be disrupted, not to mention the deer and other animals that would be hurt or killed by the trains. We've heard that the tracks themselves are not in such great condition. This would surely need to be addressed, repaired, replaced. This means more $$$$$. If there were a hazerdous material situation, I can't imagin what would happen to those people who live directly along the tracks. Also, Shoefactory Road comes up over a rather large hill headed West towards the tracks. During rainy, wintery, snowy conditions, this becomes very hazerdous and slippery. Accidents have happened in this are before. The tracks are too close to the bottom of the hill to allow for sufficient time for stopping and avoiding running into the tracks or hitting another vehicle and causing them to go onto the tracks. Adding more tracks and trains would only intensify this situation. Another option to look at would be diverting the tracks under this large hill and making it underground track(s). We have heard that the maps that were used by the powers to study this purchase are old and outdated. They supposidly show the area are farmland and forest preserve areas. Well, there are homes directly along the tracks on one side and forest preserves along the other side. The area is very populated and is not some vast, empy land. To sum up my opinion, this whole idea is bad! This type of railway traffic has no place running through this type of area. It's unsafe and disruptive to the community as well as the environment.
Submitted by: Rosa Kokoszka · Hoffman Estates, Illinois
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-4730 · back to the docket sheet