Lake Co. Joins 9 Municipalities, Metra In Opposing Rail Merger

LAKE COUNTY, IL — Lake County has joined other Chicago-area municipalities and Metra officials in publicly opposing a proposal to add freight trains to the Milwaukee District North line, which includes stops in Grayslake and Libertyville. The merger would also affect the Milwaukee District West line.

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern filed a merger application with the federal Surface Transportation Board last fall, which remains under review and, if approved, could bring the first single-line network connecting the U.S. to Mexico and Canada, according to the Daily Herald.

In a resolution approved last week, the Lake County Board asks the federal Surface Transportation Board to deny the merger as currently proposed and asks that several conditions be included for any potential approval. Metra officials and communities where the line would run through are concerned over a proposed 380 percent increase in freight traffic along the Metra lines.

Lake County officials are asking for noise walls, infrastructure upgrades, corridor quiet zones, grade separation and pedestrian overpasses or underpasses be added to address safety issues and address delays, according to the Daily Herald.

Lake County joins DuPage County, Elgin, Roselle, Itasca, Bartlett, Wood Dale, Bensenville, Hanover Park, and Schaumburg in opposing the merger. The group of DuPage County and Cook County municipalities have formed The Coalition to Stop CPKCMember Communities, and officials in all communities have drafted letters to the Surface Transportation Board addressing its concerns.

"This increase of freight train traffic and train lengths through our communities is likely to have a detrimental impact on the quality of life for all of us," officials with the coalition wrote on its website.

Metra officials, in a filing with the federal Surface Transportation Board, said the merger could increase delays by 400 percent per 100 miles on the Milwaukee District west and Milwaukee District North lines, according to the Chicago Tribune. The freight trains could block access to trains

The merger would bring more freight trains to the Chicago area, and Metra said it could mean a 400% increase in delays per 100 miles along its Milwaukee District West and Milwaukee District North line, according to the Chicago Tribune.

More via the Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune