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An environmental assessment will be released this week on the possible impact of adding three more round trips on the Amtrak Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago, which stops in downtown Glenview, said Scott Speegle, passenger rail marketing manager for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The environmental assessment was completed by the Illinois and Wisconsin departments of transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration, and will be made public on Thursday, Speegle said. The assessment looks at 12 smaller construction projects that are part of the expansion plan, he said.

"As part of that environmental study, they are looking at different alternatives for track improvements, upgrades and different things that could be done to improve the service," said Speegle, who declined to talk about the specific findings of the assessment.


Since then, some village officials and residents have expressed concerns with a part of the proposal that includes building a two-mile freight train holding track, which would decongest the railroads by allowing freight trains to stop, for either an hour or a couple of hours, to let passenger trains pass, Owen said.

The proposed holding track would be added on the west side of the existing two Metra rail lines, starting in Glenview near West Lake Avenue, and then head northeast over Shermer and Willow roads to the shopping area on Patriot Boulevard, Owen said. It would then bend to the northwest next to the Metra tracks through Northbrook, stopping near Techny Road, he said.

The village is concerned about the holding yard because it would be built near the area where a freight train derailed on the bridge above Shermer Road in July 2012, killing a Glenview couple, Owen said. It took two years to rebuild the bridge, he said.

Owen said he hopes officials will consider other areas to place the holding track to negate the village's pollution, noise and derailment concerns.

Gary Dubofsky lives in The Willows subdivision, and there are two freight train tracks about 50 feet from the property line behind his home, he said. The proposed holding track would be built next to the tracks closer toward his property, which is his main concern with the project, Dubofsky said.

Dubofsky started an online petition against the project that was signed by 410 people, according to the petition. He said the trains pass throughout the day and are loud, pollute the air and shake the house.

But the trains are a greater problem when they stop on the tracks because they get louder when they idle and start back up, Dubofsky said – something that would be a constant problem with the holding track.

Vicki Palmer lives across the street from Dubofsky, and said she has lived in her home for 20 years and only recently have the trains become a problem. Because the freight trains stack compartments on top of each other, she said, the trains are heavier, which shakes her home and causes damage.

Palmer said that adding a holding track will only increase the pollution, noise and damage, and she believes Amtrak officials aren't thinking of the impact it will have on residents.

"I feel like they are railroading us into having this," she said.

IDOT's Speegle said that no aspect of the project is final yet, and the Federal Railroad Administration will approve it based on the environmental assessment, which will take into consideration the opinions and concerns of local officials and residents.

Glenview residents can attend a Nov. 2 meeting at Park Center, 2400 Chestnut Avenue, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to discuss the environmental assessment.