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[CNJRoss]

Chicago Tribune,9/21/17:
 

Goose Island landlords worry 'railroad trolls' will derail North Side development

 

 

Major zoning changes expected to spark a wave of residential, office and retail development near the Chicago River have bumped into an unexpected obstacle from the area’s gritty past: rail cars.

 

Property owners in the North Side Industrial Corridor are unhappy about the arrival of rows of train tanker cars on more than century-old tracks that run though Goose Island and east into the Lincoln Park area.

 

The Chicago Department of Transportation and one of the city’s biggest real estate developers, Sterling Bay, are trying to end rail car storage in the area.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Crain's Chicago Business, 9/21/17:

A rail showdown on Goose Island

 

Real estate developers may have won the war over the future of the North Branch of the Chicago River, but they're bracing for a new kind of a battle with a lone industrial holdout.

 

Their new adversary: Iowa Pacific Holdings, a little-known Chicago company that owns railroad tracks along the river and potentially, the power to delay a push to transform part of the industrial North Branch with new office, residential and retail projects. One developer, Sterling Bay, has already taken legal action against the company.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Crain's Chicago Business,​ 10/3/17:

Rail cars roll off Goose Island, but 'railroad troll' to bring them back

 

 

Goose Island's "railroad troll" has backed down—kind of—but only for a moment.

 

SNIP

 

Iowa Pacific mollified its neighbors the other night when it rolled the rail cars off the tracks, but that doesn't mean the fight is over. David Michaud, Iowa Pacific's general counsel, said the firm plans to store more cars on Goose Island in the coming weeks, a move that could rev up the conflict once again.

 

The rail cars have become a source of controversy because Goose Island and its environs are so busy with car and truck traffic. In many places, the tanker cars sit on tracks right on the street. They are also a vestige of the area's industrial past and a potential obstacle blocking efforts to redevelop an important part of the North Branch of the Chicago River with new homes, office buildings and stores.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Chicago Tribune, 12/6/18:
 

Column: City nears takeover of North Side rail line, in move to create new public transit route

 

By Ryan Ori, Contact Reporter

 

Chicago is close to assuming control of abandoned railroad tracks that run through Goose Island, a key step toward creating a public transit route along the Chicago River on the city's North Side.

 

On Wednesday, the City Council is expected to vote to take over rights to the Chicago Terminal Railroad line. The former freight train route could eventually become part of a transit way for buses or trains that the city wants to create from the edge of Lincoln Park and Bucktown to commuter trains at Ogilvie Transportation Center.

 

The route would boost public transportation options between downtown and an area of the North Side expected to see a dramatic influx of residents and office workers. The plan has the potential to reduce traffic and relieve crowding on the CTA's Red, Blue and Brown Line trains. 

 

SNIP

 

 

One option being explored is an autonomous bus-train hybrid, on wheels rather than tracks, Hopkins said. Public transportation would be alongside trails for bikes and pedestrians, and the route would be closed to car traffic.

 

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