Kankakee Times

Lindsay Parkhurst, the Republican candidate in Illinois House District 79, came out against the proposed Great Lakes Basin Railroad project and a supporter of the opposition group BLOCK GLB Railroad in a recent post on her Facebook page.

"Farming isn't just a job - it's a way of life," Parkhurst said in her Facebook post. "Projects like the GLB Railroad, Illiana Expressway or the Peotone Airport threaten family farms in our community and sometimes those farms have been in the same families for generations."

Facebook announcement of Lindsay Parkhurst, the Republican candidate Illinois' District 79 state House seat

Parkhurst is challenging state Rep. Katherine Cloonen (D-Kankakee), who has served in the Illinois House since 2013.

Parkhurst told the Kankakee Times earlier this week that she is against career politicians serving in the state legislature and that she favor term limits. "I'm running for state representative for one reason - to defend our home," Parkhurst said. "Springfield is broken and that hurts our community. To fix Illinois, we must return state government to the people."

Parkhurst is an attorney who maintains a practice in Kankakee.

The Great Lakes Basin Transportation proposal would build a new rail line around the Chicago metropolitan area to expedite freight movement across the nation and provide additional capacity for rail traffic.

The $8 billion privately funded project would be a 278-mile rail line around the Chicago area, according to the 6-year-old transportation company's website. The route would run from Janesville, Wisconsin, south to Rockford, into Grundy County, Kankakee County and into the Indiana counties of Lake, Porter and LaPorte, according to the site.

That route would forge a 200-foot wide right of way, including a designated 50-foot utility corridor, and would provide switching, servicing, and car and locomotive repair services to railroad customers. Great Lakes Basin Transportation also plans a terminal for rail operations between Manteno and Sollitt.

The planned two main tracks, with centralized traffic control signals, would allow unconstrained movements of up to 110 trains per day.

The federal Surface Transportation Board conducted public meetings earlier this year throughout the region and is expected to complete an environmental impact statement in the next few years. Once that statement is complete, the board can made decisions about the final route.

Supporters of the project say it will relieve a lot of rail congestion around the greater Chicago area, which is expected to get worse. Chicago is the largest freight rail hub in the world, according to Great Lakes Basin Transportation's website. Rail traffic is expected to exceed the capacity of existing rail lines entering Chicago, although a quarter of that rail traffic passes through, rather than originating or ending in Chicago.

Opponents, including members of BLOCK GLB and Citizens Against the Great Lakes Basin Railroad project and 11 conservation agencies including the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy, object to the route because of the significant harm they say it will cause. Farmers, and others in rural areas, would suffer if the proposed route goes through, opponents say.

"I'm adamantly opposed to these boondoggles," Parkhurst said in her Facebook post. "Any possibility of using eminent domain for private gain does not make economic sense and is an abuse of state power. I'm proud to stand with groups like BLOCK GLB Railroad to prevent these projects from hurting our rural communities."