Krug: Thanks for everything, STB
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Those intrepid souls who trek east on Route 14 each morning and back home in the afternoon are only too happy to tell you that the current commute is as enjoyable as a hangnail.
As pleasant as snuggling with a porcupine.
As stimulating as a staring at a white wall.
In short, the ride is brutal in the best weather. Add snow, rain or, as is often the case in these parts, a sun delay, and the commute can be unbearable.
Traffic crawls around the corners in Crystal Lake and Cary. It fights through Fox River Grove. Budges across Barrington. Pitter-patters in Palatine. Agitates about Arlington Heights. Moans up one side and down the other of Mount Prospect. Dillydallies within Des Plaines. And putters painfully in Park Ridge.
If you drive Route 14 any farther than that each day, you seriously need to consider relocation or perhaps medication.
Folks, that dreadful, mind-numbing ride is sure to worsen in the next few months. On Wednesday, in a Christmas Eve maneuver befitting of The Grinch, the federal Surface Transportation Board approved the Canadian National Railway's proposal to buy the Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway (better known as the EJ&E) line.
Barrington will face the brunt of this decision, but commuters will share the pain.
McHenry County residents who suffer with 30-, 40-, and 50-minute commutes along Route 14 to and from the near northwest suburbs are destined for overtime.
Barringtonians surely must be experiencing great delight over this decision. Because there is nothing better than running a dozen or so multi-mile freight trains a day lugging through the quaint village that prides itself in solitude and sanctuary. Diesel fumes and the sound of a thousand tons of iron chugging along do wonders for the quality of life and should, no doubt, have a dazzling effect on home values (as if the sparkling economy wasn't doing enough on its own).
What's truly galling about the STB's decision is the complete lack of legislative voice afforded residents in Barrington and commuters from McHenry County. Barrington's village board had no say in the matter. Nor did the county governments that hold jurisdiction. Not even Congress, which counts among its members a Barrington resident, Rep. Melissa Bean, could do anything to untrack this decision.
Nope, this was government from afar at its finest. If Oz were an actual republic, it would most surely would have had a surface transportation board.
The EJ&E lines now are a 200-mile loop that Canadian National controls. That run, which will include Barrington, also stretches north to Waukegan, south through West Chicago to Joliet and east through Chicago Heights to Gary, Ind. The upshot of Canadian National's plan is to take pressure off congested rail lines that run through Chicago.
Once again, the suburbs take the brunt of a city problem. Thanks for everything, Chicago.
And despite passing the proposal with a 3-0 vote, two of the STB's board members curiously expressed concerns with the mitigation included in the plan.
So when you get right down to it, this flawed proposal has been approved for the greater good. Not necessarily your greater good, but someone else's greater good. And what better Christmas present could you have given without knowing that you had given it?
The next time you are pinned down in traffic, whip out your iPhone and Google the Surface Transportation Board. Take a good look at the three-headed panel that wrecked your ride and helped transform Barrington into a train town.
The group is composed of a chairman named "Chip" (and, for the record, if you are older than 12 and don't play third base in the big leagues, you shouldn't allow yourself to be called "Chip"), a cat in a bow tie, and some other dude who appears to have been born for such an appointment.
If you have extra time, click on the photos of Bow Tie glad-handing with representatives from a train lobby in Chicago and also playing with a remote-controlled train in Montreal with the Canadian National gang. It will warm your heart.
Scan as I might, didn't find any snapshots of Bow Tie in Barrington, talking this through with the people there. That roll of film must still be at the Walgreens.
Bean and Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, condemned the decision. Sen. Dick Durbin chimed in with his disappointment, as well.
Each vowed to fight, fight, fight for what is right.
To them, I say good luck with that.
To the commuters, I say set your alarm a little earlier. Your day is about to get even longer.
• • •
Looking forward: Because I bear such a striking resemblance to Nostradamus, the single question I've fielded the most in the past month has been: Do [I] think 2009 will be better than 2008?
My answer to them: I hope so.
• • •
A look back at 2008: For the life of me, I can't remember much about 2007. I'm sure there were some pretty amazing events and moments that forever will be etched in the minds of many. But not mine.
Now, 2008, that's a different story altogether. Events and moments galore. Some of them historic. Others tragic. All of them interesting and worthy of reflection.
As we do each year, we will publish a special section containing the most newsworthy stories of this year. Look for our comprehensive review of 2008 in Wednesday's print and online editions.
• • •
Sign of the times: Gotta love the sentiments behind the street corner poet on Route 31 just south of the intersection of Route 120 in McHenry, who weighed in on the current state of affairs.
"Illinois: Where governors make license plates."
Nicely done, poet.
• • •
And finally ... : Happy new year!
I'll be the first to tell you that 2008 wasn't a phenomenal year. But if you can read this, consider yourself alive and eligible to make 2009 great.
No purchase necessary.
Some residency restrictions apply. Sorry, not open to residents of Wisconsin and Indiana or the Canadian National Railway.
Odds of having a great 2009 are determined by the number of entrants in the game.
Limit one entry per person.
Some restrictions apply.
• Chris Krug is general manager and executive editor of the Northwest Herald. Contact Chris by calling 815-459-4122 or via e-mail at ckrug@nwherald.com.
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