Comment EI-34359
Received or sent (printed as 9/19/2026)
To the Surface Transportation Board, Office of Environmental Analysis: As a long-time resident of Mount Vernon, IL, I am submitting environmental scoping comments for Docket FD 36873 regarding the proposed UP-NS merger. Our town is already heavily impacted by freight rail traffic blocking main roads, specifically across three crossings on Highway 37 (Broadway/Main) and two crossings on Highway 15 (10th/Salem Rd). Projecting a 20% or greater increase in rail traffic through our community will severely worsen these existing bottlenecks. Miles-long trains already frequently delay emergency vehicles such as fire, medical and other first responders, and an added surge in traffic will compound critical emergency delays, local noise, and diesel pollution. Furthermore, the tragedy in East Palestine highlighted the severe, unacceptable risks of hazmat incidents in trackside towns that lack the resources to cope with disaster. I urge the Board to require a rigorous environmental review and mandate enforceable mitigations—specifically, long-overdue grade separations (overpasses or underpasses) on these major routes—to protect public safety from this steep traffic increase. Respectfully submitted, Mark Coats Mount Vernon, IL
Submitted by: Mark Coats · MOUNT VERNON, 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-36873/comment/EI-34359 · back to the docket sheet