Edward Forte, chairman of Black Contractors United, speaks at a community meeting about Norfolk Southern's controversial plans to expand a rail yard in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on Jan. 10.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, and allies used a parliamentary tactic to defer the legislation that would allow the railroad to acquire the streets and alleys it doesn’t already own between two existing sets of tracks from Garfield Boulevard south to 59th Street.This would have given the railroad leeway to expand its largest U.S. intermodal yard, which has its main entrance at 47th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Taylor previously blocked a vote on the ordinance for five months to pressure the railroad to conduct a study on the long-term health impacts of diesel soot from trains and trucks and to hire more Black contractors and employees, including from Englewood. She dropped her opposition to a vote, until Wednesday.from a longtime Englewood resident whose home was acquired by Norfolk Southern through eminent domain as evidence that the company’s expansion is harming its surrounding community.
Spielmaker continued: “Expanding this in-town facility eliminates the need for residents commute out of the city for work, creates new jobs, and reduces urban sprawl while directly reinvesting in the communities we have long been a part of.”