Should Barrington Taxpayers Pay for Portion of Railroad Underpass?

BARRINGTON, IL - An advisory referendum appearing on the ballot for Barrington voters this election will ask whether they feel comfortable with the village’s plans to move forward with a multi-million railroad underpass project, which is meant to ease congestion by providing a route under the Canadian National Railway tracks along Route 14.

The advisory referendum, which is not legally binding, also asks for taxpayers thoughts on a road project to realign Lake Zurich Road, according to the Barrington Courier-Review. The long-planned projects would together cost a $67.4 million---most of which would be covered by state and federal funds, the Daily Herald reports.

The referendum that Barrington voters will find on their ballots reads:

Shall the Village of Barrington spend public funds to construct an underpass beneath the railroad tracks on Northwest Highway (US Route 14) east of Route 59 and/or rerouting Lake Zurich Road through Citizen's Park and the Barrington Library property?

Voters will be asked to vote yes or no to the question.

A Barrington resident, who lives near where the proposed underpass would be constructed, collected 575 signatures to get the advisory referendum on the ballot, according to the Barrington Courier-Review.

"We don't feel like this is the best solution. The best solution is seeing what residents want," Cotopolis told the Barrington Courier-Review. "This should not fall on residents of Barrington as taxpayers of a project that they have not been allowed to vote on."
Meanwhile, village officials say a small portion of the project, $403,317, would be covered by taxpayers and the project would help ease traffic congestion on the busy thoroughfare, according to the Barrington Courier-Review.

Currently, there is no underpass available at any of the four rail crossings in Barrington, which means motorists have to stop at all of the crossings when a train is passing through.

Cotopolis has spearheaded an effort to gather more information on the Lake Zurich Road realignment project as well as the Barrington underpass. She has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, researched court rulings and has posted some of this information on her COALITION of CITIZENS OPPOSED to RAIL EXPENDITURES website.

More via the Daily Herald and the Barrington Courier-Review