The village of Glenview has hired a consulting firm to conduct a capacity analysis of passenger and freight rail lines as officials and residents continue their fight against the construction of a holding track as part of a proposed Amtrak Hiawatha line expansion.
The Illinois and Wisconsin departments of transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration have proposed increasing service on the Amtrak Hiawatha line, which runs from Chicago to Milwaukee and stops in Glenview, from seven to 10 daily round trips, according to the project’s draft environmental assessment.
Glenview village officials and residents have expressed concern about a proposal to build a two-mile freight train holding track from Glenview to Northbrook, which is a recommendation of the draft environmental assessment.
The village of Glenview has opposed the project through resolutions and public meetings, and in May the Board of Trustees allocated $400,000 toward communications, research, lobbying, potential litigation and a contingency fund to oppose the project.
The $400,000 budget will fund opposition efforts through Dec. 31, 2018, said Deputy Village Manager Don Owen. The money was taken from the village’s permanent fund, which is revenue the village receives for providing master developer services for The Glen, according to a staff report.
If the project continues into 2019, the village anticipates allocating more funds to oppose the project, Owen said.
In May, as part of the $400,000 budget, the board approved a $50,000 contract with Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications, a firm village officials have worked with since the draft environmental assessment was published to help inform residents about the project and process, according to a staff report.
The board approved a contract with Transportation Economics & Management Systems Inc. for $160,000 at its July 2 meeting to study the capacity of the rail lines, Owen said. The capacity analysis will research ways to keep all trains using existing passenger or freight lines while avoiding the need to build a holding track in Glenview, Owen said.
Officials and residents have concerns about the health, noise and environmental impacts that come from freight trains that stop and start up again, Owen said. Though there are still similar concerns with moving freight trains through the area, the impacts decrease if the train passes through, he said.
The capacity analysis will consider different ways to keep the trains moving and recommend alternatives to the holding track, Owen said. Transportation Economics & Management Systems Inc. representatives have done studies on this train corridor in the past and believe alternatives are available, he said.
“They believe that we can recommend alternatives where you don’t have to have trains stop. There would be enough capacity and you could make additional improvements such that you don’t need the holding track and therefore you don’t need to stop trains,” Owen said.
The study will take six months, and village officials will receive information monthly until it is complete, Owen said. Once the study is complete, the recommendations will be shared with the Illinois and Wisconsin departments of transportation and their consultants, he said.
“We believe by having this information we’ll be able to provide information that should be considered and that might actually change their outcome,” Owen said. “(The analysis) should give us credibility in being able to justify our assumptions and to make recommendations for alternatives that would not include the holding track.”
On July 2, the trustees also approved a contract for $72,000 with Barnes & Thornburg LLP for government relations services. The law firm will help village officials communicate with officials on the federal level, like the Federal Railroad Administration, if the environmental assessment is approved at the state level and moves on for federal approval, Owen said.
In June, the board approved a contract for $50,000 for legislative services with Morrill & Fiedler, LLC. At the July 2 meeting, the board approved an amendment to the contract for an additional $30,000 to hire on one more member to the team, Nancy Kimme, who has “really good contacts with different people at the state level,” Owen said.
In total, $100,000 of the $400,000 budget will go to Morrill & Fiedler LLC because the firm will have worked with the village for seven months through the end of the year for $10,000 a month plus an additional $30,000 for Kimme’s contract, Owen said.
With board approval of the four contracts, $18,000 remains in the budget, according to the staff report. The village has allocated that money for potential pre-litigation work, but no contract has been awarded yet, Owen said.
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