Around 50 people trekked through Thatcher Woods on a cool, sunny autumn morning Saturday, Nov. 7 to hear several experts talk about the impact of the proposed O’Hare Flyer express train on local wildlife habitats and homeowners in River Forest and Forest Park.
River Forest officials were watching closely.
The event, the second in a planned series, was sponsored by the Stop the O’Hare Passthrough Coalition, or STOP. Organizer Elif Negiz, a Forest Park resident, welcomed three experts in auditory science, birds and animal habitats to speak for the hour-long event.
A private investment group has proposed building a $2.25 billion high-speed train system on existing railroad right of way through a section of west Forest Park and through a much larger section of River Forest. The proposed line would carry passengers from downtown to O’Hare Airport in about 15 minutes.
The train traffic would represent a massive increase in frequency, going from the two to four freight trains that used the tracks daily up until 2018, to 144 trips daily between 4 a.m and 10 p.m.
Negiz led her group along a path toward where the current Canadian National rail tracks pass through the forest preserves, stopping to hear from an ornithologist from Chicago Botanic Gardens and a master gardener who has years of experience monitoring at risk bird populations.
While the concern for wildlife was genuine among those gathered, the more chilling issue that brought hundreds of people to the STOP coalition is the threat to people’s home values, to their sleep and to their quality of life.
Michael Chronopoulos, who is also a Forest Park resident, is an auditory neuroscientist. He said the constant trains would change the environment in ways people likely couldn’t imagine.
“We’re being asked to consider a project that could permanently change our neighborhoods, yet residents still lack the information needed to evaluate (this) project,” he said. He decried both a lack of information and what he characterized as misinformation.
“We’re being told that trains traveling up to 80 miles per hour, every few minutes, during the day, possibly with freight trains continuing through the night, will somehow be whisper quiet,” Chronopoulos said. “Whisper quiet,” he repeated. “My background is in auditory neuroscience, the way the brain processes sound, and responds to sound. I find that phrase whisper quiet, entirely misleading.”
“Electric trains may eliminate engine noise, but they do not eliminate the train noise,” Chronopoulos said. “At those speeds, noise comes from steel wheels on steel rails, aerodynamic turbulence, track vibrations, and other mechanical sources.”
Chronopoulos debunked the notion that sound barriers will effectively mitigate train noise.
“A lot of people may hear the words “noise wall” and assume the problem is solved,” he said. “Unfortunately, sound doesn’t work that way… low frequency sound travels around barriers, over barriers, and even through barriers, as well as through the ground.”
“These are homes where families sleep, where kids grow up, where people have invested their savings and their future,” Chronopoulos said. “So at this point, I’m concerned about more than just noise.”
“What will people hear and feel in their homes? What will residents experience in the middle of the night? And what will people experience here in our parks, trails, and public spaces?”
Chronopoulos criticized the lack of transparency by developers, saying, “Where is the detailed noise analysis? Where are the vibration studies, the proposed overnight freight projections, all unanswered. If those studies exist, then why not show them to us? If they don’t exist, then why not?”
“If this project is truly whisper quiet, then tell them to bring the data. Let independent experts review it. Let the public see it,” Chronopoulos said. “Until the public is given those facts … any support for this proposal would be premature in the best of lights.”
Walking back to the parking lot, Negiz echoed some of Chronopoulos’ points. The experts who have shown up to speak at both events, she said, “are coming because they realize the impact that this would have.”
She said she and others have attempted to obtain details of the planned rail system from principal Dave Lundy, but have not heard back for more than five weeks.
“The burden of proof remains with the developers,” she said. “The developers need to show the engineering renderings. They need to show the ridership studies. We have seen nothing.”
“If we can take a Metra, or we can take a CTA, who is this really serving?” she said of the private rail line. “It’s really serving the executive class who want to save a few minutes, and ideally not have to be around working people.”
Negiz ended the morning reiterating her plea for attendees to stop by the registration table and write at least one letter to one public officials voicing those concerns.
“We’ve been speaking with everyone, our senators have been phenomenal,” Negiz said. “I’ve been speaking with (Senator-elect Juliana) Stratton’s team. She’s been excellent, along with many other local elected officials and people who are running for political office.”
Negiz called for a “whole of government approach to look at what is the best use for… these decommissioned and unused railroad right of ways.”
River Forest Village Administrator Matt Walsh stood in the parking lot afterwards, chatting with people. He said village officials are keeping close tabs on developments.
“The village is working with the STOP coalition folks to help amplify their message, and we help promote this event,” he said.
Walsh said the village’s experience with O’Hare Flyer officials has been the same as STOP’s.
“We have our correspondence on our website with of a list of questions we’ve asked (of) the O’Hare Flyer Group, and we have not received any responses to those questions,” he said.
“We’re trying to figure out what the case is, because as we heard today, there’s a lot of questions and concerns, and until we have details on what the impacts are, we can’t support, we don’t know how to mitigate them.”
The lack of detail regarding various deadlines is also a concern. “They’ve claimed that the construction would start within 18 months,” Walsh said. “Now that’s probably closer to 15 months, but there’s a lot of steps that they still need to take, and agreements with the railroads, and the city of Chicago, and other things that they need to worry about.”
“So, we’re going full speed trying to get other people on board, other towns, and elected officials and agencies to express their concerns now ahead of time, ’cause we’re not sure what the deadline is,” Walsh said. “We want to make sure to be as proactive as possible.”