Amtrak officials and developers faced off against angry community members Thursday, opposing construction plans for a massive rail yard in Chinatown, Bridgeport and Armour Square beginning as early as the end of this year.
The plan, headed by White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia’s company, Canal Edge LLC, includes a proposal for the Sox to play at a mixed-use facility along the Chicago River called The Railyards in the South Loop and Amtrak’s maintenance facility to move into the neighborhood on South Canal Street between West 33rd and 35th streets.
Hundreds of residents, some dressed in T-shirts that read “Protect our community, stop Amtrak’s rail yard,” flooded the meeting. Tensions rose as Amtrak leaders and developers claimed there were no significant impacts on the environment or quality of life for nearby residents housed near the proposed site.
Residents responded by questioning the studies Amtrak has done regarding impacts on safety, the environment, noise and other factors. The project has received $600 million and a categorical exclusion from the federal government to bypass certain environmental tests and an environmental impact statement to break ground faster, but residents also questioned that.
“You’re treating us like we’re idiots. We’re not idiots,” one resident said. “We’re intelligent, hardworking people making our home here.”
Steven Segerlin, who runs commercial development at Amtrak, said the company needs a new site for a rail yard to replace its current 14th Street facility. The revamped site would allow the company to modernize its maintenance, cleaning and storage practices, allowing for fewer delays.
Segerlin didn’t definitively answer questions such as whether or not Amtrak would commit to mitigating noise impacts to zero in places where it was expected to be “moderate” and if the company could guarantee there would be no elevated health risks due to the facility.
Cook County Commissioner John Daley was one of several elected officials who took the microphone to oppose the project, including Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), whose ward includes Rate Field and the proposed site. He said Segerlin should have started the meeting by asking the panel of Amtrak leaders and developers a question instead of the crowd who ever had their Amtrak train delayed.
“Ask people up there if they would want this facility next to their house,” Daley said.
Residents criticized the project due to its location in a residential neighborhood, with more than 6,000 people living within 500 feet of the proposed site, compared to 29 living within the same radius of the current Amtrak maintenance facility, according to Lee. They expressed concerns for children and seniors living nearby and pointed out that playgrounds and an outdoor pool were in the vicinity of the site.
A select few residents voiced support for the project, with some highlighting the jobs it will bring to the area. Segerlin said 3,000 jobs will be created during construction and 400 more at the Amtrak facility once it opens.
Residents and elected officials specifically called out the project’s leaders for disrespecting the community and informing them only in the 11th hour.
“It’s not asking too much to pump the brakes,” Lee said.