A transportation nightmare on Renwick Road

June 19 could have been any ordinary day in Plainfield, IL. People commuting to/from work, activities, running errands, you name it. These citizens of not just Plainfield, but of other surrounding communities depend on roads maintained by Plainfield to transact business throughout our fair village.

If you, like so many other people in the area, are growing frustrated by the increasing traffic, you'd be shocked to hear what else happened on June 19 at our very own Village Hall.

The Plainfield Planning Commission on a 3-2 vote decided to recommend moving forward with a proposal by GP Transco.

What does this have to do with you? A lot.

The proposal by GP Transco asks to add up to 286 trucks per day to Renwick Road. GP Transco wants to build a transportation facility at 22419 W. Renwick Road.

In their testimony to the Planning Commission, GP Transco stated that they would add an initial 320 stalls, each would hold up to a 53' trailer. These trailers would be stored on the site awaiting transportation to other locations throughout the United States.

GP also stated that peak operation for these 53' trailers would be during the morning and evening commutes. According to their own commissioned study they would have 68 trucks leaving their facility between the hours of 6am-9am and another 61 trucks leaving the facility between the hours of 4pm-6pm. These numbers are only peak transport times. That does not include any of the trucks that would be leaving the proposed facility during non-peak hours.

There are other factors to keep in mind:
GP Transco in their request to the village wants the already highly taxed citizens of Plainfield to pay for the privilege of having them in our village. Yes, GP Transco is asking for corporate welfare. A hand-out to build on Renwick AND add the additional truck traffic.

While the initial plan is for 320 stalls - GP Transco would have room to add 500 total stalls.

They want to encroach on wetlands and add a fuel storage tank to the property that has Mink Creek running through it.

The County of Will would have to widen Renwick road to add turning lanes to access the facility. Will County has not given their permission or say they would fund it. Who would pay for this?

The traffic study that was commissioned by GP studied the traffic on GP's existing facility. Which currently only has 110 stalls! So the numbers that were given to the Planning Commission are completely inaccurate. At 320 proposed stalls, you can count on the number of trucks doubling. Now, imagine that count at 500?

GP stated that the trucks would be exiting Renwick and heading west to access Route 30. Although the attorney for GP valiantly stated the trucks would then head to I-55, there is no way of knowing where they will ultimately head. More truck traffic for Route 59?

I ask you, is this the kind of development we want to see for the Village of Plainfield? Do we want to pay a corporation to add to the misery of our commute?

We already see what kind of problems the Village of Elwood and to some degree Joliet has with these kinds of intermodal facilities. Do we really want that? I say no. I hope you do to.

Join me in reaching out to our elected officials before the next village board meeting on July 16. Together, we can stop this from happening.

In case you need names, here they are:
Margie Bonuchi, Village Trustee mbonuchi@goplainfield.com
Ed O'Rourke, Village Trustee eorourke@goplainfield.com
Bill Lamb, Village Trustee blamb@goplainfield.com
Larry Newton, Village Trustee lnewton@goplainfield.com
Brian Wojowski, Village Trustee bwojowski@goplainfield.com
Cally Larson, Village Trustee clarson@goplainfield.com
Michael Collins, Mayor mcollins@goplainfield.com

All can be reached at (815) 436-7093

To learn more, join the fight at United Against Trucking Terminal on Renwick Road