Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Barrington, IL (and I hope everybody likes the sound of train horns!)
http://www.stb.dot.gov/newsrels.nsf/WEB ... enDocument
I am personally delighted by this decision. I think it would have been a horrible precedent if STB had allowed a few wealthy, loudmouthed NIMBYs to derail a transaction so generally beneficial to the railroad industry. I'm very proud to say the process worked as designed. After an eight-month environmental review, 22 public hearings, and lots of blather in the press, the Board made the right decision. The conditions imposed will not be excessively onerous, I don't believe, and the benefits (for both the railroad industry and for those who live close to currently busy rail lines in the core of Chicago) will be large.
To Barrington's residents, I say: Go pound sand. Spend lots of money on lawyers. It will all be wasted. State courts have no standing in this matter, and Federal courts generally side with regulatory agencies unless some defect in the process can be documented. After so many hearings, and the imposition of mitigating conditions, proving that is going to be a very tough row to hoe.
http://www.stb.dot.gov/newsrels.nsf/WEB ... enDocument
I am personally delighted by this decision. I think it would have been a horrible precedent if STB had allowed a few wealthy, loudmouthed NIMBYs to derail a transaction so generally beneficial to the railroad industry. I'm very proud to say the process worked as designed. After an eight-month environmental review, 22 public hearings, and lots of blather in the press, the Board made the right decision. The conditions imposed will not be excessively onerous, I don't believe, and the benefits (for both the railroad industry and for those who live close to currently busy rail lines in the core of Chicago) will be large.
To Barrington's residents, I say: Go pound sand. Spend lots of money on lawyers. It will all be wasted. State courts have no standing in this matter, and Federal courts generally side with regulatory agencies unless some defect in the process can be documented. After so many hearings, and the imposition of mitigating conditions, proving that is going to be a very tough row to hoe.
Randy Resor, aka "NellieBly" passed away on November 1, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.