'Outrageous' La Grange Crossing Closure Set: Official

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange's village president is protesting a railroad's plan to close a crossing next month, calling it "outrageous."

BNSF Railway plans to shut down the crossing to both drivers and pedestrians at Brainard Avenue from Oct. 6 to Oct. 16. It is for improvements at the crossing. The railroad told Patch this was determined to be the best time to close it.

The crossing is near Lyons Township High School's North Campus.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Village President Mark Kuchler said the village strongly disagrees with the decision.

"We believe as a board that this creates safety issues," Kuchler said.

Many students cross there to get to the high school, he said, while others go the other way to get to Park Junior High School, Ogden Avenue Elementary School and St. Francis Xavier Catholic School.

He said the crossing closure will create complications for Metra commuters like him.

"There is no way Burlington Northern and Metra will communicate that well," Kuchler said. "I don't expect it to run smoothly. I find it outrageous that BNSF will not work with us to provide a solution that our pedestrians could at least cross."

Residents, he said, have reached out to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates railroads.

"We're obviously not anti-transportation here. We are, though, anti-railroad coming in and dictating all the things that need to be happening on their schedule when they want," Kuchler said.

Resident Glenn Thompson told the board that information has been posted around the village for ways to contact the commission about the issue.

"We need every parent and every person in this village to file a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission," Thompson said. "The death of a child will now be on the Illinois Commerce Commission, and there's no way they'll be able to overcome that."

In an email to Patch on Wednesday, BSNF spokesman Ben Wilemon said his company has been in communication with La Grange and local schools since mid-July about the plans.

"Our coordination involved a review of possible days that would minimize disruption to the nearby schools. BNSF and school officials identified October 6th through the 15th as being the dates that would provide the least amount of impact to residents in the area," Wilemon said. "While we understand the reasoning for the Village's request for a temporary pedestrian crossing to be installed at the location, BNSF and the Illinois Commerce Commission believe that a pedestrian access point through an active construction zone in a triple-track environment would be unsafe."

He said a detour will be provided via Kensington Avenue and supported by BNSF personnel, Operation Lifesaver and roadway signage to safely facilitate the pedestrian crossing of the tracks for the duration of the project.

"We understand that this is an inconvenience to residents of LaGrange, and we appreciate their patience while we perform the necessary work," Wilemon said.