Full Text of HR1187 095th General Assembly
HR1187 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, On October 30, 2007, the Canadian National Railway | 3 |
| Corporation, along with its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, the | 4 |
| Grand Trunk Corporation, filed an application with the U.S. | 5 |
| Surface Transportation Board (STB) seeking approval to acquire | 6 |
| the Elgin Joliet and Eastern West Company (EJ&E); and
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| WHEREAS, The proposed acquisition by Canadian National | 8 |
| Corporation (CN) would involve shifting a significant amount of | 9 |
| train traffic that currently moves over CN rail lines in the | 10 |
| City of Chicago to sections of the EJ&E rail lines west and | 11 |
| south of the City of Chicago, including a segment that runs | 12 |
| through the counties of Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, and Cook; | 13 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The EJ&E runs through numerous "bedroom | 15 |
| communities" that are homes to many residential neighborhoods | 16 |
| and schools; with 133 grade-level crossings, some with no | 17 |
| gates, along the rail line, these communities are not equipped | 18 |
| with the rail crossing infrastructure to handle a massive | 19 |
| increase in freight traffic, nor do they have the tax authority | 20 |
| to build the infrastructure that is needed for these | 21 |
| communities to remain viable for commuter lifestyles; and
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| WHEREAS, Some communities will experience more than 700% |
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| increase in the quantities of federally designated hazardous | 2 |
| materials routed through their municipalities; these dramatic | 3 |
| increases will require significant financial investments by | 4 |
| local emergency agencies to prepare for potential hazardous | 5 |
| material spills, not to mention the increased health risk to | 6 |
| residents in neighborhoods the EJ&E travels through; and
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| WHEREAS, These counties are experiencing exceptional | 8 |
| population growth, including Kendall and Will Counties, which | 9 |
| are two of the fastest-growing counties in terms of population | 10 |
| growth in the nation; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, With exceptional growth in rail traffic, concerns | 12 |
| have been voiced regarding delays in emergency services, such | 13 |
| as ambulances and fire-prevention vehicles, due to the | 14 |
| significant increase of train traffic in these communities; and
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| WHEREAS, Increased freight traffic will inevitably cause | 16 |
| delays in response to 9-1-1 calls due to blocked railroad | 17 |
| crossings that are at grade level throughout the region; a fire | 18 |
| doubles in size every minute, and a delayed response to a | 19 |
| structure fire of 5 or more minutes could mean the difference | 20 |
| between rescuing fire victims and fire fatalities, not to | 21 |
| mention minimal property damage versus total destruction; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, On top of these existing concerns with the |
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| proposed EJ&E merger, some communities will experience freight | 2 |
| train traffic every 35 minutes, which will cause significant | 3 |
| increases in congestion and safety concerns; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Using the City of Barrington as an example, a | 5 |
| total of 646 vehicles currently experience delays at the four | 6 |
| main Barrington crossings on the EJ&E in a 24 hour period; it | 7 |
| is estimated that under CN's operating plan, which was | 8 |
| submitted to the STB in this acquisition's application, by the | 9 |
| year 2010 3,397 vehicles will experience delays at the same | 10 |
| four main Barrington crossings in a 24 hour period due to | 11 |
| increased rail freight and road traffic; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, CN's purchase of the EJ&E line could potentially | 13 |
| harm the implementation of the STAR line, a planned expansion | 14 |
| of commuter rail that will help more than a million suburban | 15 |
| residents get to work faster as road congestion continues to | 16 |
| snarl suburban roads; Metra planned to run the STAR line along | 17 |
| the existing EJ&E tracks that CN is proposing to purchase; | 18 |
| without access to the EJ&E tracks, the STAR line could be | 19 |
| shelved indefinitely; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, With 133 grade crossings, some with no gates, | 21 |
| along the EJ&E, the needed investment in infrastructure | 22 |
| improvements is prohibitively expensive; conservative | 23 |
| estimates indicate that 50% of those crossings would need an |
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| underpass/overpass built at an estimated cost of $40 million | 2 |
| per crossing; the necessary infrastructure improvements would | 3 |
| amount to almost $3 billion; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 |
| emergency response times in the affected areas would be | 7 |
| significantly marginalized causing, in some cases, serious | 8 |
| injuries or even deaths; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That as a result of the EJ&E merger, the dramatic | 10 |
| increase in hazardous material to be transported through | 11 |
| residential and commercial neighborhoods that consist of | 12 |
| millions of citizens, including hospitals and schools, pose | 13 |
| grave consequences in the event of an accident; and be it | 14 |
| further | 15 |
| RESOLVED, That the acquisition of the EJ&E by Canadian | 16 |
| National Corporation should be denied by the federal Surface | 17 |
| Transportation Board because of the health and safety hazards | 18 |
| it will produce for the citizens of the affected communities; | 19 |
| and be it further | 20 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to the Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, | 22 |
| the President of the Canadian National Railway Company, the |
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| Chairman of the Will County Board, the Chairman of the DuPage | 2 |
| County Board, the Chairman of the Grundy County Board, the | 3 |
| Chairman of the Kane County Board, the President of the Cook | 4 |
| County Board, the members of the Illinois Congressional | 5 |
| delegation, the Administrator of the CREATE program, the | 6 |
| Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the | 7 |
| Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the President | 8 |
| and the Chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority.
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