Village Officials Seeking Solution to Trains Blocking Railroad Crossings

Grayslake village officials are asking state and federal legislators to work with railroad officials to keep trains from stopping and blocking railroad crossings for extended periods of time—and they want residents to help.

Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an ordinance that officially asks legislators to work with the Canadian National Railway Company and Metra to find solutions to avoid incidents like those in the past couple of weeks that saw freight trains blocking railroad crossings for 10 to 15 minutes.

Mayor Rhett Taylor is asking residents to write letters to their legislators, urging them to find solutions.

"It would be helpful if they had a flood of mail," said Taylor.

Taylor said incidents involving trains blocking railroad crossings have been happening more frequently. 

"One happened today," Taylor said Tuesday. Grayslake Patch also reported that a stalled freight train resulted in traffic delays Oct. 30.

Both Police Chief Phil Perlini and Fire Chief John Christian wrote letters to Taylor, expressing their concerns.

"In one recent incident, a response to a fall victim required a response of over 15 minutes while crews navigated around the stopped trained and blocked roadway," Christian wrote. "The location of the incident was less than one half mile from the fire station."

Perlini noted that "twice, we had a train versus car crash at the Route 120 and Route 83 crossing and our own units had to drive out of our jurisdiction to get to the scene, causing several minutes of delay.

"I cannot think of one day that has bone by where someone's response to a call, emergency or not, was not delayed by a stopped train," Perlini added.

He noted that he has also seen traffic backed up from Seymour Avenue through downtown to Lake Street due to a slowed or stopped train blocking the crossing.

Christian added that "in order to ensure the timeliest response and the most effective service, we need roadways that are clear and passable."

The ordinance approved Tuesday night offers three suggestions, including: that schedule adjustments be made to eliminate the need for trains to stop on the double-track segment in Grayslake to allow other trains to pass; that stoppage locations are distributed along the line so Grayslake's emergency response isn't impacted by every stopped train; or that a second track is constructed between Route 176 and Rollins Road to eliminate the need for trains to stop on the double-track segment in Grayslake.

"We need to have better flow from these trains," said Taylor.