R-55-00 05/22/00RESOLUTION - Jas 66
A RESOLUTION URGING THAT THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION'S
PROPOSED RULE TO IMPLEMENT NATIONWIDE SOUNDING OF TRAIN WHISTLES
SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY MODIFIED OR AMENDED THROUGH APPROPRIATE
LEGISLATION OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION
WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont is a village of approximately 13,500 people in the
counties of Cook, DuPage, and Will; and
WHEREAS, the Village of Lemont places great importance on improving railroad grade
crossing safety; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and Village Trustees are very supportive of the current grade
crossing protection program administered by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC); and
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois, via the Illinois Commerce Commission has demonstrated
commitment to railroad crossing safety by investing over $365 million into crossing safety upgrades
at the state's most dangerous crossings over the past twelve years, leading to a 60% reduction in
accidents; and
WHEREAS, this accident reduction happened during a period where automobile and train
traffic volumes significantly increased; and
WHEREAS, in 1994, Congress passed the Swift Rail Development Act (hereinafter "the
Act ") which targeted whistle ban crossings nationwide by requiring that whistles be sounded at every
at -grade railroad crossing in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Proposed Rules to implement the Act were published by the Federal
Railroad Administration on January 13, 2000; and
WHEREAS, the Proposed Rules offer relief from whistles only if communities spend vast
sums of money on supplemental safety upgrades (hereinafter "supplements ") to crossings, without
access to any new federal funding sources; and
WHEREAS, the Proposed Rules will compromise the ICC's highly effective safety program
by diverting resources away form the most dangerous crossings, towards installation of supplements
at relatively safe crossings, simply to avoid the sounding of whistles; and
WHEREAS, review of the Proposed Rules has demonstrated that the majority of these
supplements cannot be installed in northeast Illinois; and
WHEREAS, northeastern Illinois has been identified by the FRA as a "puzzling anomaly,"
referring to the fact that collision frequencies at whistle ban crossings in the region are lower than
those at crossings without bans; and
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WHEREAS, recent research has corroborated the existence of this anomaly.
NOW, THEREFORE IT BE RESOLVED that the Village of Lemont believes that the
Federal Railroad Administration's Proposed Rule to implement nationwide sounding of train
whistles should be significantly modified, or should be amended through appropriate legislation or
administrative action, to require the ERA to work with individual states to allow implementation of
cost effective railroad crossing safety programs tailored to unique local circumstances; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any legislative or regulatory changes to the Proposed
Rules should preserve the ability of a community to establish an enforceable queit zone where
whistles are not sounded, and should add actual value to existing state and local grade crossing safety
programs.
PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF
THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT, COUNTIES OF COOK, WILL AND DU PAGE, ILLINOIS,
on this 22nd day of May , 2000.
John Benik
Debby Blatzer
Keith Latz
Connie Markiewicz
Richard Rimbo
Mary Studebaker
AYES NAYS PASSED ABSENT
v
CHARLENE SMOLLEN, Village Clerk
Approved by me this 22nd day of u . & 2000
RIC • �Si A. 17: SN 'KI, Village President
Attest:
CHARLENE SMOLLEN, Village Clerk
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