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[CNJRoss]

Website:

 

Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc.

Includes interactive Proposed Route Map

[CNJRoss]

Beloit (WI) Daily News, 3/19:
 

Some say railroad route plan is off track

 

 

Farmers and landowners in eastern Rock County are just learning about a proposed railroad bypass route that may some day run through their countryside, and some of them are none too pleased.

 

To farmer Ken Luety, who owns cropland in Bradford Township, the Great Lakes Basin Railroad project would be a disaster. The proposed route, with a projected cost of $8 billion, crosses his land along its 280-mile trek around Chicago, passing east of Beloit and Janesville as it heads north through Rock County to connect with the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad east of Milton.

 

“It’s like a bad dream,” Luety said. “Nobody’s asked us if we want a railroad. Hell no I don’t want a railroad. Railroads are dinosaurs.”

 

But other local farmers, like Mike Seach, are more optimistic. He owns land east of the Village of Clinton, which is not on the proposed route. He thinks the new line could lead to better grain prices by giving farmers more options to bring their crops to market.

 

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Chicago Business Journal, 3/23:
 

Chicago rail bypass could be in trouble after Union Pacific backs out

 

Rail congestion in the Chicago area has been getting more attention in recent months, but now a major rail operator appears to be backing away from a plan to build a new line from Indiana to Wisconsin that could, potentially, relieve congestion for both rail and motor traffic.

 

SNIP

 

But now, with Union Pacific choosing to back out, the funding for the $8 billion project may be in question, the report said, since Great Lakes hasn’t divulged the sources of its funding.

 

More here.

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The Times, Ottawa, IL 3/24:

Manteno mayor calls possible rail project a boon

 

Consideration of a proposed $8 billion, privately-funded railroad that would ring around and bypass the congested rail lines within Cook County and the surrounding area has resurfaced.

 

The 278-mile rail spur, called the Great Lakes Basin Railroad would be used for freight. The line has been discussed for several years.

 

How real the project is will be determined in the months to come. The question is whether this is another proposed development such as the Illiana Expressway or the South Suburban Airport — projects discussed for years, but never built.

 

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WISC-TV, Madison, WI 3/24:

 

Proposed railroad raises concerns among landowners

 

Mirjam Melin said she would be able to see a proposed railroad right from her kitchen window. The train would cross the field right outside the border of her property.

 

"We want to be rural, we like our views, we like what we have," Melin said.

 

Under the current plans, Mirjam and her husband Mark's property would not be directly impacted, but fear that could change before plans are finalized.

 

"This is our land, this farm is bought and paid for and actually we feel completely out of control," Melin said.

 

Continue here w/video report.

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The Times, Munster, IN 4/1:

Lowell railroad meeting moved to a larger hall

 

LOWELL — Heightened public concern about a new railroad that could run through Northwest Indiana has prompted federal officials to move the location of a public meeting to a larger venue.

 

Dennis Watson, a spokesman for the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that must approve the railroad’s route, stated the April 12 meeting now will be held at Lowell Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6841 hall, 17401 Morse St. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

 

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News Tribune, La Salle, IL 4/9:
 

Railroad developer seeks landowner support

 

The proposed Great Lakes Basin Line has grabbed the attention of northeastern La Salle County residents. Farmer Carl Zimmerman of Earlville presented information he had learned about the railroad at the La Salle County Board’s development and environmental services committee meeting this week.

“I was informed of this planned rail line three weeks ago,” he said. “I realized there were a lot of people who knew nothing about this so I decided to inform as many people as I can about this proposal and the possible impact on our region.”

Zimmerman created the “Block GLB” Facebook and Web pages and presented the committee with his concerns about the proposed rail, which would include about 30 miles of rail in northeastern La Salle County. Zimmerman said it would cut through much of the property he farms. He’s also linked up with groups in other affected counties in Illinois and Indiana.

 

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Morris (IL) Herald-News, 4/14:
 

The proposed Great Lakes Basin Railroad, which would come through Grundy County, starts hearings

 

Surface Transportation Board to hold hearing in Seneca on environmental impact

 

MAZON – Michelle Weber remembers when, as a child, she climbed into the family’s combine with her father so they could work the farmland her parents bought in rural Mazon.

 

Today, she and her husband, Nick, farm 10 acres of that land.

 

In her strawberry-patterned rubber boots, she stood in the decades-old crib last week on that very farm. She looked out at the strawberry plants, set to bear fruit in June, and questioned the future of the dream she and Nick have with the same degree of care as she and her husband bestowed on the plants.

 

“We rent 10 acres for our farm from my mother,” she said. “My parents moved here in the ’70s and I was born in 1978. My dad was a grain farmer who passed when I was just 9 years old. My mom kept the farm and rented it out.”

 

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Chicago Tribune  - Post-Tribune, 4/15:
 

Freight line plan hatched as owner sought delivery answer

 

A question of product delivery that Frank Patton couldn't answer at the time was the genesis for a proposed 278-mile freight line.

 

Patton, 73, of Crete, Ill., said he was recuperating from an illness and spending time at the Union League Club in Chicago around 2008. He said he spent a lot of time in the club's library and performing pro bono work with the club's public affairs staff.

 

While busy with that, he worked on a project to develop a business in Burns Harbor but he was faced with the question of how to deliver products there.

 

"I said I got this idea for a railroad and it sounds kind of screwy," Patton said, adding he became more interested in the railroad than the business. "It's a very addictive project."

 

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Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL 4/19:
 

What if freight trains skirted suburbs via new rural railroad?

 

In the 21st century, the plan by Great Lakes Transportation Inc. is rare to the point of being unbelievable: Building an $8 billion, 278-mile-long, two-track freight railroad through northeastern Illinois.

 

And for suburbanites, the plan hints at some incredible possible benefits:

 

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