Full Text of HR0773 102nd General Assembly
HR0773 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The City of Elgin joins Bartlett, Bensenville, | 3 | | Hanover Park, Itasca, Roselle, Wood Dale, and DuPage County as | 4 | | a member of the "Coalition to Stop CPKC" to oppose the merger | 5 | | between the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern freight | 6 | | railroads; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Coalition to Stop CPKC has filed its | 8 | | objections to the merger with federal regulators; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The merger would almost triple the number of | 10 | | freight trains while also increasing the lengths of those | 11 | | trains on the Metra Milwaukee West Line running from Elgin to | 12 | | Chicago; these more frequent and longer trains would mean | 13 | | longer crossing delays for commuters, school buses, and | 14 | | emergency responders, in addition to more noise; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, In order to mitigate these issues, local units of | 16 | | government would be responsible for levying billions of | 17 | | dollars in new taxes for infrastructure improvements; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The impacts of a merger to the area would not only | 19 | | hurt residential and commercial property owners by negatively | 20 | | affecting economic development and stability but would also | 21 | | have significant environmental and public safety implications; |
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| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Fox River is the primary source of drinking | 3 | | water for 350,000 people, and with railroad tracks located | 4 | | less than 100 feet from the Fox River in several places, a | 5 | | train derailment has the potential to be a public safety and | 6 | | ecological disaster, especially if a train is filled with | 7 | | crude oil; an explosion of such could threaten the lives of | 8 | | those within half a mile; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, A merger would create a Class I (one) railroad | 10 | | that would span from the tar sands in Canada to the Gulfport | 11 | | refineries in Mexico, which could place cities such as Elgin | 12 | | in the middle of tragedies like Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada | 13 | | in 2013, which saw a rail disaster that killed 47 people; | 14 | | therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 16 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 | | we declare our support for the City of Elgin and the Coalition | 18 | | to Stop CPKC in their opposition to the merger of the Canadian | 19 | | Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads; and be it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Federal Surface Transportation | 21 | | Board to reject the CPKC merger application; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 2 | | delivered to the Governor, all members of the Illinois | 3 | | Congressional Delegation, the members of the Federal Surface | 4 | | Transportation Board, the Director of IDOT, the Director of | 5 | | Metra, the Director of the Regional Transit Authority, the | 6 | | mayors of Bartlett, Bensenville, Elgin, Hanover Park, Itasca, | 7 | | Roselle, and Wood Dale, and the members of the DuPage County | 8 | | Board in order to bring further awareness of the negative | 9 | | impacts that hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents will | 10 | | face should this merger be approved.
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