Neighbors share concerns over railroad extension proposal presented to commissioners

Описание: A railroad line extension plan along Capital Avenue is back on the table again.

WSBT22 first told you about the Osceola-Granger rail line extension this time last year.

At that time, the proposal was withdrawn after community opposition.

It has been resubmitted and may be reconsidered.

The rail extension has some history. It's a project that's been discussed over the last few years.

But, after being tabled, many people thought that was the end. This year, it's being considered again.

“So, a lot of neighbors thought okay, we can breathe and move on to something else now and sure enough now they've brought it back to the table,” said Andrea Hartstein, Neighbor.

The original proposal connected St. Joseph and Elkhart County to the Canadian National Railway. It would extend the rail line along Capital Avenue, starting at Currant Road and ending at Cleveland Road.

“So, this was brought up a year ago, and it was just a proposal that because there was a federal grant made available for the study, if the county was willing to contribute about $100,000. Then the grant would be approved to study an extending an existing spur line,” said Andy Rutten, St. Joseph County Council.

While it's unclear if anything has changed with the proposal this time around. It is being presented to the commissioners first.

“So, I'm not really sure why it was brought up again if there's any changes. What the plan is for for moving forward or where that that $100,000 would come from? Within the county budget? Normally the county council approves all county spending but here they're presenting it to the commissioners,” said Rutten.

There are still many people with concerns about this project.

One neighbor said the timeline is too close to another major project happening.

“For them to be bringing this on the heels of the data center feels very fast and overwhelming. And we haven't even been able to digest what's happening with the data center yet let alone a new project,” said Andrea Hartstein, Neighbor.

Many are also still concerned about safety and cost of a rail line extension.

“So, my concerns, I'm concerned about traffic patterns and things they're expanding before they even do overpass expansions I feel like that's a safety concern,” said Hartstein.

WSBT worked throughout the day to try to confirm whether the new proposal is the same as the one from last year and why it's being brought up again but that is still unclear.

The rail line study was on last week's agenda but was pushed by the commissioners to a later date, giving them time to review it further.

Read full story here: https://wsbt.com/news/local/neighbors...

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