Residents bring open minds, skepticism to 19th Street Rail Corridor Open House

Springfield residents reviewed displays explaining the options for the 19th Street rail corridor improvements during a Sept. 9 open house at Washington Middle School.

Linda Douglas-Williams said she attended to educate herself after hearing plans over the years for proposed changes. 

“We have done studies, and studies and studies,” she said. And, it’s really about time that we start doing something,” said the longtime east side resident.  

“We can talk this to death. What are we going to do?” she said.

Hanson Professional Services held the event to solicit community feedback on several options for the 19th Street rail corridor that runs from Clear Lake Avenue to the former Crown III Mine near Farmersville.

The city of Springfield hired the consulting firm to lead the development of the Springfield Rail Improvement Project. The firm will present recommendations with a cost analysis to the city council in December.

Former Illinois NAACP conference president and community activist Teresa Haley said she’s skeptical the community will finally see the city’s promise to move the tracks fulfilled.

“I think they’re just stringing us along, especially for residents here on the east side of Springfield,” Haley said.

She recalled former Springfield Mayor J. Michael Houston agreed to have the 19th Street tracks removed more than 20 years ago. 

“Well, the tracks are still here,” she said. “So, they’re offering us three more options, which are bullcrap.”

The choices presented included A) Building underpasses; B) Upgrading the existing crossings; C) Converting the rail lines to trails, such as what is being planned for the Third Street rail corridor; and D) Improving the roadways leading to the rail lines.

Jeff Myers, Hanson’s lead project manager on the 19th Street rail corridor, said that more than one of the choice could be implemented as they are not mutually exclusive. He also noted that Canadian National, which owns the 19th Street rail line, has already completed some rail crossing improvements along that corridor.

Haley said the only real choice is turning the rail lines into a park trail. “That way our kids are safer,” she said.  

Construction began in 2014 for the Springfield Rail Improvement Project, although environmental and planning work, including public meetings, took place for several years before that. The project focused on relocating train crossings from Third Street to 10th Street so that the Third Street corridor could eventually be abandoned for rail traffic.

It also called for roadway underpasses for 10th Street and 19th Street. Construction is nearing completion for the final segment, underpass construction at North Grand Avenue from Ninth to 11th streets, but hasn’t included any work on the 19th Street corridor.

Myers said it’s not realistic to build any underpasses for the 19th Street tracks since train traffic is projected to be significantly reduced.

“So, we’re looking at less than one train per day,” Myers said.

He said the city would have a hard time finding funding for underpasses along that corridor since the cost outweighs the benefit. 

Traffic on the 19th Street rail line once included coal trains from the Crown III Mine at Farmersville, which closed in 2013.  Currently, trains haul coal and coal residue in service to the Vistra Power Plant near Kincaid, but that operation is expected to end in late 2027.

Myers said the company that may be most impacted if the use of the 19th Street rail were to end would be Contech Engineered Solutions, 1110 Stevenson Dr., which uses the line to transport plastic to its facility.

State Sen. Doris Turner, who was in attendance, referred to “the promise” made to east side residents of including the 19th Street rails in the railroad project, but was coy about what improvements to the corridor she would support.

“I don’t believe that it’s in our best interest to have any preconceived notions about where we’re going to go with it,” Turner said. “It really needs to be a cooperative effort, and everybody working together to do what’s best for our community,” she said.

Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher said she understood the promise east side residents received from city officials as “these tracks would be vacated.”

In the ideal situation, she said, the 19th Street rail line would be connected to the Third Street rail corridor through the LINC, a planned pedestrian and bike friendly greenway overlaying what were once rail lines running through downtown.

Buscher said while supportive of the plan, she was hesitant to commit the city to the position.

“We would love to, but we have to get everybody else on board,” she said.

Also, she said funding could be an obstacle.

“There’s never enough money for all the projects that need to be done,” she said.

In addition to gathering community input, Hanson will also take into consideration the position of Canadian National. Also, they’ll gather the opinions of the businesses who use the line when developing their recommendations to the city.

Myers said regarding the “rail to trail” option, it’s going to take willingness from Canadian National to be in favor of abandoning the rail line.

“So we’ll work with (the railroad company)  to come up with solutions that could work both for the businesses and then also for the community,” he said.

Ken Page, president of the Springfield chapter of the ACLU, paused and studied each display during the open house. 

“The 19th Street rail has been a bone of contention for the Black community for a very long time – for decades,” he said in his capacity as a resident with strong ties to the east side.

He said the community’s desire throughout the decades has been apparent. “The people do not want the trains on those tracks,” he said.

“What’s interesting is that I’m not very sure that the voice of the community has reached the owners of the rails,” Page said. “It always ends up with city officials and elected officials. So, they become a person’s voice, and that’s not always the voice of the people.”