River Forest village board votes to pass resolution opposing O'Hare Flyer
The River Forest village board voted unanimously to pass a resolution to oppose the O'Hare Flyer during a meeting Monday night.
Dozens of residents filled the auditorium of Trinity High School at 7574 Division St., with many of them encouraging the village board to vote "no" on the O'Hare Flyer.
The train would take passengers from the old post office to O'Hare Terminal 2 at 80 miles per hour from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. each day.
It would go through the middle of River Forest and Renu Shah's backyard.
"If you do the math, there it's over 50,000 trains a year," she said.
Some say the proposed plan would mean a train would be traveling through the area every seven and a half minutes in each direction. The developers say the train would be "whisper quiet," but residents aren't buying it.
"They claim it is whisper quiet, but nothing traveling at that speed is quiet," one resident said.
One speaker, Eric Houston, says he actually supports the plan, which would convert existing freight lines, like the Canadian National in River Forest, to the electric rail.
"Following some research, I learned these tracks have been in River Forest since the mid 1880s," he said.
Residents are also concerned about car and pedestrian safety, emergency response times, and impacts to wildlife since the proposed rail would go through the Thatcher Woods forest preserve.
The O'Hare Flyer sent CBS News Chicago a statement that reads in part, "We were not invited to tonight's board meeting and have not yet received an invitation to meet with the board. We are concerned that several aspects of the project are being misunderstood or misrepresented."
Meanwhile, the village says they are advocating for residents, meeting with railroad representatives and scheduling discussions with state and federal officials.
Many suggest investing more money into the Chicago Transit Authority and Metra.
"This would drastically change the character of not just my community, but all of these communities along this route," Shah said.
The village board did acknowledge that the O'Hare Flyer team requested a meeting. The developers say they are committed to coming, talking with River Forest residents and answering their questions.
