Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Walkup Avenue Railroad Underpass Should Be On Local Legislative “To Do” List
An article in the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, June 21st, 
reminds me that it’s time to put this idea into the public arena:
The article has this startling finding from a national freight railroad group:
It is true that Crystal Lake already has one underpass. It’s on Route 176 just west of Walkup.
But, Route 176 is not used as a north-south route to get through Crystal Lake.
And, the only McHenry County town on the Union Pacific’s main line without an underpass or any overpass of any kind--Fox River Grove--better re-start the thinking that began after the school bus was hit by the Metra train. Woodstock might want the think about a bigger one, too.
reminds me that it’s time to put this idea into the public arena:Local legislators should put a Walkup Avenue underpass of the railroad tracks on their “to do” list.This will not be easy to accomplish because such underpasses costs $20-$40 million.
The article has this startling finding from a national freight railroad group:
rail traffic is projected to increase 66 percent by 2020Those who have been forced to wait to get through the tracks at Walkup can figure out how much worse the situation will be 14 years from now.
It is true that Crystal Lake already has one underpass. It’s on Route 176 just west of Walkup.
But, Route 176 is not used as a north-south route to get through Crystal Lake.And, the only McHenry County town on the Union Pacific’s main line without an underpass or any overpass of any kind--Fox River Grove--better re-start the thinking that began after the school bus was hit by the Metra train. Woodstock might want the think about a bigger one, too.
