New Great Lakes Basin proposal includes Illiana replacement toll road

MORRIS – Great Lakes Basin Transportation Inc. filed its application Monday with the Surface Transportation Board to build the Great Lakes Basin Railroad.

The Great Lakes Basin Railroad project, which has an estimated $8 billion price tag, would run 275 miles from La Porte, Indiana, to Milton, Wisconsin, cutting through Grundy and LaSalle counties locally. The railroad was previously the subject of highly contentious environmental impact meetings.

Great Lakes Basin Transportation is now also proposing the construction of a toll road that will divert traffic around Chicago. The proposed privately funded toll road, which would be called the Daniel Burnham Expressway, would run from Interstate 80 west of Morris to Indiana, where it would again meet with the Interstate 80/94 expressway.

The toll road would follow much of the same route as the proposed railroad, which has not been changed since it was shown at open meetings in and around Grundy County. Together, the toll road and railroad would have a combined width in some areas of more than 2,000 feet.

"By creating the Burnham corridor along the same route as the train we will be carving out one area not two," Frank Patton, Great Lakes Basin Transportation founder and chairman, stated in a news release. "There would be 18 connections for the proposed expressway allowing for potential economic development across its path with access to both the expressway and the railroad track.

“Our application explains the need for this vital project to the STB and the public," Patton said in a phone interview. "The GLBR is the largest single freight railroad project proposed for the Chicago region in over a century. We look forward to working with the STB and other interested parties to move this project forward.”

The Surface Transportation Board will announce the procedural schedule for the application and related environmental review in future orders.

In January, the board agreed to suspend its ongoing environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act to allow Great Lakes Basin Transportation time to complete its application to the board to seek construction and operation authority for the new rail line, according to a letter to Patton from the board.

Great Lakes Basin Transportation officials made the request Dec. 1, arguing that the application would provide the Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis assistance with its environmental policy act review.

Patton said the Daniel Burnham Expressway would replace the proposed Illiana toll road and make more sense in the way it diverts traffic.

Both the toll road and the railroad would be built with private funds, according to Patton, and would not cost the taxpayers money.

Patton said now that the Surface Transportation Board is in the process of designing the railroad, Great Lakes Basin Transportation expects a set list of potential routes published by the board in one to two weeks.

"We hope in 60 days to have a schedule for public meetings for the proposed highway, which falls under the jurisdiction of a different federal agency than the Surface Transportation Board," Patton said.