Lake County communities brace for Canadian National expansion

For a couple hours each afternoon, about three blocks worth of day shift workers pile up on Broad Street north and south of the train crossing. On their way home from work, they wait several minutes for freight traffic to clear on the seven different rail tracks that coat the road south of Main Street.

If a proposal pending before a federal review board to sell the EJ&E line to Canadian National Railway is approved, that wait will get a lot longer.

CN wants to divert traffic that would normally go through Chicago onto the EJ&E line, which goes around the city.

So instead of a train every 2-1/2 hours, Canadian National would increase train frequency to once every 48 minutes. Instead of being half a mile long, trains would grow to an average length of 1.2 miles.

The move is designed to improve the efficiency of the area's freight train network, but communities along the EJ&E -- Gary, Griffith, Schererville and Dyer -- worry the long, frequent trains will hamper emergency services, school bus routes and commercial activity.

"It'll gridlock our town," Schererville Fire Chief Joe Kruzan said. "You could conceivably double your response times to some of these areas."

Documenting the impacts of adding the 20 proposed trains per day to the EJ&E tracks took the federal Surface Transportation Board 5,000 pages.

The four communities in Northwest Indiana that sit along the EJ&E have had since July 25 to look through the report, identify the impacts to their town, and submit ideas to ameliorate those effects before Sept. 30 to get them included in the final version of the transportation board's impact report.

The extra traffic will have impacts on public safety as well as road congestion.

Systemwide, by 2015, motorists crossing EJ&E tracks, which stretch from Gary to Waukegan, Ill., will spend an additional 650,000 hours waiting for trains if the proposed purchase goes through. If they keep their engines idling for all those hours, they'll burn about 325,000 gallons of fuel doing so.

Alternatively, diverting train traffic from Chicago and the inner suburbs will save drivers there, systemwide, 465,000 hours and 233,000 gallons of fuel by 2015.

But it's primarily the public safety implications that have local officials nervous.

Blocking a key railroad crossing can mean costly delays if police, fire or ambulance service has to reroute to reach the scene of an accident, fire or crime.

In Lake County, Gary, Griffith, Schererville and Dyer, which sit along the EJ&E, would see an increase to nearly 30 trains a day, up from about 10. Munster, which sits along the CN's route, would see a decrease, from 23 trains a day to about three.

Gary

The EJ&E tracks in Gary start in the Kirk Yard, near Gary/Chicago International Airport. The tracks loop around the airport's west side and head straight south, about a half mile east of Cline Avenue.

Other than the Indiana Toll Road and the Borman Expressway, only Industrial Highway, on the north side of the airport, has an overpass over the tracks.

The only other roads that cross the tracks -- Fifth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, 15th Avenue and 25th Avenue -- all do so at ground level.

CN proposes that the average length of the trains it will run on the EJ&E will be 1.2 miles. But the city worries that trains on the high end of average could block all four of Gary's at-grade crossings, which are only about two miles apart.

That would block access to the neighborhood on Cline's eastern side, as well as Grissom Elementary School. It would also block access to Cline Avenue, which is the quickest route emergency vehicles would take to respond to an emergency at the airport.

Grissom itself doesn't expect any problems.

Seven buses serve the school of about 320 students, almost all of whom take the bus to school. Children who do walk come from the neighborhood next door and don't have to walk across the tracks, according to Principal Anne Wodetzki.

Wodetzki said she's had good communication with the EJ&E, which has adjusted its schedule at times to accommodate the school's morning and afternoon bus traffic. She's optimistic the same will be true for CN.

"This is not their first track near a school, so I'm sure they'll be considerate of our needs and we'll be able to work something out."

Griffith

Griffith stands to be impacted most by the proposed sale.

The EJ&E runs south through the center of town until it reaches Main Street, where it curves abruptly to the west toward Schererville.

Ridge Road is the only east-west road that goes over the tracks. Every north-south road crosses the tracks at ground level.

The crossing at Broad Street, the major north-south thoroughfare, is singled out by the transportation board as an intersection that is substantially affected by the sale.

Trains cross Broad Street coming into or out of the sharp curve in the tracks, which requires them to slow down to just 20 mph.

Dan Tirpak, an assistant manager at Pittsburgh Paints, which sits about a block north of the tracks on Broad Street, says the traffic jams today are bad enough in the afternoon that he rides his bike the mile and a half to work and back to avoid the congestion.

"Living here, it's a pain," Tirpak said of the late afternoon/early evening traffic. "You plan on going out to dinner here (at that time)? Nah. Forget it. You can't get there."

Hercules Gardikiotes, who owns Niko's Steak and Seafood abutting the tracks, has said he worries about his business in the difficult economy already. With more trains, he worries more.

Griffith Police Chief Ronald Kottka said he would need six more officers before he was comfortable he could always have someone on the east, west and south ends of town to respond to a call.

The average response time today is about two to five minutes, Kottka said. Without additional officers, he sees that potentially doubling with the train congestion.

All three of Griffith's fire stations are on the west side of the tracks, effectively cordoning off the east side of town, accessible only by Ridge Road if the other crossings are blocked, which could happen with a larger-than-average two-mile train.

A worst-case scenario would require a fire engine to travel north on Broad Street for two miles and cross the tracks on Ridge Road just to drive another two miles south to reach a fire that's three blocks across the tracks from the main fire station.

A new fire station on the west side of the tracks would be prohibitively expensive, however, to build, equip and staff.

"Look, if the economics of (this sale) are so good for all of North America, than all of North America should help contribute to the mitigation of Griffith," Town Councilman George Jerome said.

Schererville

Running west out of Griffith, the EJ&E continues its westward trek through the north end of Schererville. There are two ground-level crossings -- one on Kennedy Avenue north of Division Street and the other at 213th Street just west of Indianapolis Boulevard. The tracks cross below Indianapolis Boulevard, which has an overpass.

The Briar Cove subdivision in Schererville lies next to 213th Street and is only accessible from two access points on that road.

The only direct route to the neighborhood is from 213th Street, making emergency service access extremely difficult if 213th Street is blocked by a train.

Fire or police would have to reroute a mile south down Indianapolis Boulevard, two miles west on U.S. 30 into Dyer, a mile back north on Calumet Avenue, and a mile and a half back east into Schererville to access the subdivision.

In a case like that, Schererville would call on the Dyer fire department to assist, but with Dyer being a volunteer fire department, Schererville Fire Chief Kruzan said he's nervous having to put that kind of burden on it.

Town officials also are concerned that access to the industrial area on Kennedy Avenue north of the EJ&E, and to a future shopping mall development nearby, will be hampered even further. Kennedy Avenue already gets so congested during morning and afternoon rush hour that after a train passes, an emergency vehicle can't pass through the lines of semitrailers and cars that crowd the narrow roadway.

"You could conceivably double your response times to some of these areas," Schererville Police Commander Brian VanDenburgh said.

Dyer

The EJ&E line cuts an east-west path through Dyer, staying north of U.S. 30 until it passes into Lynwood on the Illinois side of the border.

Dyer has two ground-level crossings at Hart and Lake streets, both just north of U.S. 30, and an elevated crossing at Calumet Avenue less than half a mile north of U.S. 30.

Dyer's position is complicated by a north-south CSX rail line that crosses U.S. 30 and the EJ&E near Church Street.

CSX trains block U.S. 30 about twice a day already, town officials said, while they wait to cross the EJ&E tracks. With an increase on EJ&E traffic, they worry that these blockages will grow longer and more frequent, blocking access to Saint Margaret Mercy Hospital from the east.

U.S. 30 curves northward in Lynwood, crossing the EJ&E track about a half mile from the border, which will result in more than 40 combines hours of delay for motorists, blocking access to St. Margaret's from the west as well.

"Although the business community would suffer somewhat, it would pale in comparison to health and safety impacts," Dyer Police Chief Richard Quinn said.

Munster

Munster sits along the CN line, which has two at-grade crossings in town at White Oak Avenue and Calumet Avenue, both near 45th Street.

Freight traffic that currently travels that line is set to be diverted onto the EJ&E in Griffith, bringing the number of Munster trains down from 22 trains per day to three.

The Munster Town Council passed a resolution last December supporting the purchase, which will solve a major congestion point at 45th Street and Calumet Avenue.

"It takes about three cycles of the traffic lights after a train passes for that intersection to flow freely. ... Very often, what happens is before the traffic signal can process through three cycles, here comes another train and starts the process all over again of congestion," Munster Clerk-Treasurer David F. Shafer said.

Gary

Gary has four at-grade (ground-level) railroad crossings with the EJ&E. Average train traffic will jump to between 29.8 and 29.7 trains per day. Current traffic levels:

5th Avenue: 9.8 trains per day, 3,108 feet per train, 1.5 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 231 delayed vehicles per day.

9th Avenue: 9.7 trains per day, 3,144 feet per train, 1.5 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 34 delayed vehicles per day.

15th Avenue: 9.7 trains per day, 3,144 feet per train, 1.6 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 164 delayed vehicles per day.

25th Avenue: 9.7 trains per day, 3,144 feet per train, 1.6 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 35 delayed vehicles per day.

Griffith

Griffith has six at-grade crossings with the EJ&E. Average train traffic will jump to 28.6 trains per day. Current traffic levels:

40th Place: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.5 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 87 delayed vehicles per day.

45th Avenue: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.5 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 146 delayed vehicles per day.

Elm Street: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.6 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 53 delayed vehicles per day.

Miller Street: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.6 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 44 delayed vehicles per day.

Lake Street: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.7 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 46 delayed vehicles per day.

Main Street: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.8 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 84 delayed vehicles per day.

Broad Street: 7.6 trains per day, 2,717 feet per train, 1.8 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 150 delayed vehicles per day.

Schererville

Schererville has two at-grade crossings with the EJ&E. Average train traffic will jump to 34.2 trains per day. Current traffic levels:

Kennedy Avenue: 10.2 trains per day, 3,261 feet per train, 1.6 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 149 delayed vehicles per day.

213th Street (Airport Road): 10.2 trains per day, 3,261 feet per train, 1.5 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 33 delayed vehicles per day.

Dyer

Dyer has two at-grade crossings with the EJ&E. Average train traffic will jump to 34.2 trains per day. Current traffic levels:

Hart Street: 10.2 trains per day, 3,261 feet per train, 1.7 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 192 delayed vehicles per day.

Hart Street: 10.2 trains per day, 3,261 feet per train, 1.7 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 49 delayed vehicles per day.

Munster

Munster has two at-grade crossings with CN. Average train traffic will fall to 2.9 trains per day. Current traffic levels:

White Oak Avenue: 22.1 trains per day, 6,081 feet per train, 2 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 311 delayed vehicles per day.

Calumet Avenue: 22.1 trains per day, 6,081 feet per train, 2.2 minutes for each train to clear the crossing, 845 delayed vehicles per day.