BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com
GRIFFITH | This town of 17,000 is no stranger to trains, with five railroad lines converging just south of downtown.
But with a rail proposal that would run 20 more trains per day near two elementary schools and across eight at-grade crossings, town officials were out in force at a meeting in Gary on Wednesday.
"You have all the heavy hitters that want this, including (Chicago) Mayor (Richard) Daley, and we're just little old Griffith," said Rick Konopasek, director of Griffith Public Works. "We're just a bunch of little punks."
At issue is Canadian National Railway's plan to purchase the EJ&E Railway, which would increase rail traffic on the EJ&E three-fold through towns like Griffith, Schererville, Dyer, and the city of Gary.
Konopasek made his comment while looking over maps at the Gary Genesis Center during a federal Surface Transportation Board open house. The federal agency is gathering information to determine what impact CN's plans will have on the environment, safety and local communities.
Schererville and Dyer already have filed comments with the federal agency opposing CN's plans, as have numerous communities in Illinois. Officials from those towns also came to Wednesday's meeting.
CN officials have promoted the purchase as a way to take freight traffic out of Chicago's urban core and speed it around Chicago on the EJ&E, a 198-mile suburban rail arterial that stretches from Waukegan, Ill., to Gary.
But officials like those from Griffith point out trains as long as 8,000 feet can take nearly 10 minutes to clear a crossing when they have to slow for curves. That could create more than five hours of wait time daily at some crossings.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., in a comment filed with the Surface Transportation Board earlier this month, blasted the agency for holding just one meeting in Northwest Indiana. He called on the federal agency to have more in the future.
The federal agency already has conducted four meetings to take comment in Chicago's Illinois suburbs.
Phillis Johnson-Ball, Surface Transportation Board deputy section chief, said preparation of the environmental impact statement could take a year or more. The agency expects to hold more public meetings after it releases a draft environmental statement.
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said his administration has held meetings with CN officials to resolve issues such as safety at crossings and environmental concerns.
The number of trains going to Gary's Kirk Yard and crossing the city's west side would increase from 10 a day now to 29, according to CN's application with the Surface Transportation Board.
Under CN's plans, Kirk Yard would become an international rail hub.
"We're looking at this globally as it relates to working with the Chinese and the foreign trade zone around our airport," Clay said.
CN has joined negotiations aimed at moving EJ&E tracks that currently block expansion of the main runway at Gary/Chicago International Airport, according to Airport Director Chris Curry.
The railroad also has been talking with South Shore officials about sharing rights of way for the commuter railroad's planned extension to Valparaiso.
Some communities will see sharp increases in rail traffic under CN's plans to purchase EJ&E. Others will see a sharp drop-off in rail traffic.