WASHINGTON — A group of Glenview, Ill., residents who helped block efforts to expand Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee has told the Surface Transportation Board it opposes Metra’s request for a new connecting track in the community to offset possible negative impacts of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger.
In a letter filed with the board on Monday, Nov. 7, the Glenview ACTION Committee (the capital letters stand for Alliance to Control Train Impacts on Our Neighborhood) says it opposes “in the strongest terms possible” the Metra proposal for a new connection at the A-20 interlocking as a condition to the merger.
Currently, at A-20, a two-track connection from the Union Pacific funnels down to a single track where it joins the Metra/Canadian Pacific line. Metra has proposed “a new connection at A-20 to allow parallel moves to new extended connecting tracks” in Sept. 28 testimony to the STB, the Glenview group’s letter notes.
The Glenview group apparently sees this as a new attempt to build a 10,000-foot siding, the Glenview Holding Track, that it objected to previously, citing concerns about noise, pollution, and a possible increase in rail traffic [see “Glenview, Ill., budgets more money to fight expansion …,” Trains News Wire, April 10, 2019].
Those objections ultimately led the state of Illinois to withdraw its support for the siding project [see “Illinois DOT bows to opposition …,” News Wire, May 13, 2019]. This, in turn, torpedoed efforts to increase Hiawatha service, because Canadian Pacific’s agreement to the increased frequencies was contingent on a full set of upgrades [see “CP puts damper on plan for more ‘Hiawathas,’” News Wire, July 29, 2019]
Interesting, the Glenview group voices no opposition to the CP-KCS merger itself, even though Metra has contended the merger could lead to more CP trains through Glenview. This is because the commuter operator says CP’s Marquette Subdivision — the main north-south line between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Kansas City — will be “overburdened, likely requiring [CP] to reroute trains over Metra’s lines.” CP has disagreed with this contention.
It seems like Amtrak’s Hiawatha service (Chicago-Milwaukee) could be more useful going to/from Chicago O’Hare Airport, if a new Amtrak train stop were added at the intersection of Amtrak’s Hiawatha & Chicago’s Metra at the location called “Mayfair” on the map shown on openrailwaymap.org. The Hiawatha already stops at Glenview, IL, but that stop location is another ~12 miles further north of Mayfair. And thus not as convenient for a connection via Metra to/from Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
That is a great idea. Although the Mayfair station is very close to the at-grade crossing with the UP-NW line – that could be a problem.
Just build a 10,000 foot sound wall. IDOT does it all the time for I-290, I-355, ISTHA does it on the I-294 widening project in Hinsdale.
I get it from a Glenview perspective, they don’t want freights yarding in transit. UP started doing that between Glen Ellyn and Lombard on the Geneva Sub center track.
A woman and neighbor, tired of listening to engines sitting at high idle actually walked out on the ROW to ask the engineer to cut the idle back. She is no longer with us as a Metra pass through sent her to the next realm.
So if CPKC needs to do the same to allow more passenger capacity, simply build a noise wall with a lot of noise absorbing trees and shrubbery.
It works in other transportation related projects (airports, highways) why wont it work here?
I always felt like A-20 was one of those places that had a two track connection in years past and it was “rationalized” in the recent past.
Some of us are old enough to remember back in the early 1960’s when the Milwaukee built a new little colonial style depot in Glenview, prior to which nothing but the occasional “scoot” stopped there, everything else blew through at speed. The Milwaukee had a bunch of non-stop Milw.-Chicago 65 and 70 minute trains, so adding a Glenview stop was a matter of civic pride.
It never stops, does it?
Apparently these NIMBYS think that rhey are too good for trains to come through their town. They are showing what they really are- A bunch of elitist snobs who want to walk on the streets of their little town and hold their noses up high. It was the railroads who put towns such as Glenview and other towns on the map with growth and development. Even now we see areas all over the United States where development of new homes and businesses have sprung up due to either expansion or construction of new rail lines and service. Here in Florida we are seeing new communities and home going up by the tracks of Sunrail and Brighline and of course, they too had to deal with NIMBYs and snobs who didn’t want that “dreadful” train going through their areas. Too many trains the NIMBYs say? What about too many cars and trucks passing through and expansion of freeways and expressways? But of course that is fine for these car loving NIMBYS and snobs in Glenview and any other areas where the railroad faces opposition and is considered PUBLIC ENEMY #1 NIMBYS are the curse of civilization
Joseph C. Markfelder
“ … Here in Florida we are seeing new communities and home going up by the tracks of Sunrail and Brighline and of course, they too had to deal with NIMBYs and snobs who didn’t want that “dreadful” train going through their areas…”. That dreadful train might need to be fenced. Lot of suicides. Also, you left the ‘t’ out of Brightline.
Would discontinuing the Glenview stop allow more Hiawathas, Metras, and freights to be run, without any infrastructure improvements (tongue-in-cheek?)?
There are two stops in that suburb. Amtrak and Metra both call at Glenview. Metra calls at The Glen. Discontinue both.
Here’s another suggestion: If Techny isn’t improved, send CP freights straight through Glenview, down to (help me out is I get the wrong designation) Tower A4 (I think that’s the name) in Chicago.
A5
Correct Tower A5 and turn the corner and go west on the Milw West Line (CP Elgin Sub) to Tower B12 and the east end of Bensenville Yard.
Back ILDOT didn’t have the cojones 2-3 years ago to tell Glenview to suck it up and we will do the capacity expansions necessary to add 3 CHI-MKE round trips. I hope the STB steps in and stomps all over the spoiled entitled brats at the Glenview Action Committee and their political enablers and gets this A20 expansion project underway.
Meant to say Back in 2019 ILDOT…
I say if that’s their position, then no new business is allowed to move into the community. No additions to the house. Nothing permitted beyond current demand or what already exist. Let’s extend this nonsense to everything. New driver in the family? No extra car. Make do with what you have.
To all NIMBYs: Everything has to go someplace, and sometimes someplace is your neighborhood!
“Alliance to Control Train Impacts in Our Neighborhood”. Our Neighborhood? The trains were there long before your neighborhood. I always get a kick out of people who think they can tell trains what to do. Yeah, sometimes they win but ultimately they usually lose.
Just like with train horns, why move next to tracks if you don’t expect trains to use their horns?
Thought comment period had long been in the past? How can they try to delay proceedings further? Of course if that is so the town might find a friendly judge?
No improved connection? Fine. Then STFU while those 15,000-foot PSR specials crawl across the crossing at Techny Road. Idiots.
Upvote.
Another upvote!
+1
I wake up to this on a Full Moon Tuesday: For months, various Chicagoland suburban NIMBYs allied with METRA opposed the merger. Now, another group of Chicagoland suburban NIMBYs aren’t opposed to the merger as such, but are opposed to METRA’s request for an abatement that would make the merger run more smoothly.
That junction in Northbrook, I belive its called Techny, that METRA wants improved ….. that’s the kind of infrastructure improvement routinely constructed in nations with decent passenger rail systems, i.e., not USA or Canada.
The irony here is that in my various posts I hold up Glenview as a suburb where the downtown area by the tracks has supported massive residential investment.
Is the former MILW at A-20 property of Metra or CP?
Metra owns all the main tracks on the Milw North Line (CP C&M Sub) and btw the branch to Fox Lake (CP Fox Lake Sub). Metra is responsible for all engineering functions. CP has dispatching rights which is a whole other story. Of course, the connection tracks to the UP Milw Sub between the south limits of A20 and the north limits of UP Shermer Road Interlocking are owned by CP.
Thank you. I ask only because if none of properties involved are public then there is no recourse by the public to stop any improvement of a Federally regulated private property. If Metra is directly involved then that is their wedge to keep things from happening.
There are two junctions close together to form the joint CP-UP line to the Bensenville and Proviso yards. Techny is where the UP splits off to go north on their freight line (known as the “New Line” in C&NW days). A-20 is where the former MILW part of the joint line rejoins the “C&M” to go to Milwaukee.
I made a mistake here. The northbound end of joint track is at Shermer.
Should have refreshed my memory using track chart before writing.