Wheaton, Ill., endorses closing Chase Street for rail expansion
Written by jrood
February 14, 2001 Wheaton, Ill., officials have endorsed permanently closing one of its streets at a rail crossing as part of a $100-million plan to add new tracks and upgrades along the Union Pacific line, the Chicago Tribune reports. The City Council approved a resolution calling for closing the Chase Street crossing, just south of Wheaton College.
The closing, which
wouldn’t happen until next year at the earliest, would give the railroad enough
space to install crossovers that would allow trains to switch from one track to
another, Union Pacific officials said at the City Council meeting. This would result
in more effective use of the tracks by both the railway and Metra commuter
rail, the officials said.
The plan still needs
approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Three sets of tracks run
through Wheaton, but there are only two sets west and east of the city. The
railroad wants to install three sets all along the line between River Forest
and Geneva. That would keep freight traffic moving regularly and at a higher
speed, which would reduce how long drivers wait for trains to pass, the rail
officials said.
"As a company, we
lose money when trains are sitting," UP director of track maintenance John
Klein told the council.
The railroad said it
would build a pedestrian underpass at Chase Street.
The proposal brought
several neighborhood residents to the meeting, saying that closing Chase Street
would divert more traffic onto nearby roads or create a spot in the city to
idle trains.
"Let’s not make
Wheaton a switching yard for the Union Pacific," resident Kevin Carlson
told the council.
Council members John
Prendiville and Todd Scalzo voted against the resolution. Prendiville said he
was worried that the plan would dramatically increase rail traffic through
Wheaton. He acknowledged this would be good for the railroad and the greater
economy, but not for Wheaton.
But Thomas Zapler, a railroad
public affairs director, said about 50 trains go through the city per day,
compared with 70 in better economic times. It will take some years just to
build to the previous level, he said.
Even if Wheaton had
opposed the closing, it would have had limited options, since the railroad owns
the right of way at the point where the street crosses the tracks. Work could
begin next year, Zapler said.
