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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The City of Elgin joins Bartlett, Bensenville,
3Hanover Park, Itasca, Roselle, Wood Dale, and DuPage County as
4a member of the "Coalition to Stop CPKC" to oppose the merger
5between the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern freight
6railroads; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Coalition to Stop CPKC has filed its
8objections to the merger with federal regulators; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The merger would almost triple the number of
10freight trains while also increasing the lengths of those
11trains on the Metra Milwaukee West Line running from Elgin to
12Chicago; these more frequent and longer trains would mean
13longer crossing delays for commuters, school buses, and
14emergency responders, in addition to more noise; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In order to mitigate these issues, local units of
16government would be responsible for levying billions of
17dollars in new taxes for infrastructure improvements; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The impacts of a merger to the area would not only
19hurt residential and commercial property owners by negatively
20affecting economic development and stability but would also
21have significant environmental and public safety implications;

 

 

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1and
 
2    WHEREAS, The Fox River is the primary source of drinking
3water for 350,000 people, and with railroad tracks located
4less than 100 feet from the Fox River in several places, a
5train derailment has the potential to be a public safety and
6ecological disaster, especially if a train is filled with
7crude oil; an explosion of such could threaten the lives of
8those within half a mile; and
 
9    WHEREAS, A merger would create a Class I (one) railroad
10that would span from the tar sands in Canada to the Gulfport
11refineries in Mexico, which could place cities such as Elgin
12in the middle of tragedies like Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada
13in 2013, which saw a rail disaster that killed 47 people;
14therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
16HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
17we declare our support for the City of Elgin and the Coalition
18to Stop CPKC in their opposition to the merger of the Canadian
19Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That we urge the Federal Surface Transportation
21Board to reject the CPKC merger application; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2delivered to the Governor, all members of the Illinois
3Congressional Delegation, the members of the Federal Surface
4Transportation Board, the Director of IDOT, the Director of
5Metra, the Director of the Regional Transit Authority, the
6mayors of Bartlett, Bensenville, Elgin, Hanover Park, Itasca,
7Roselle, and Wood Dale, and the members of the DuPage County
8Board in order to bring further awareness of the negative
9impacts that hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents will
10face should this merger be approved.