So it’s official. Riverside will have its referendum on a bond sale to fund a complete renovation of the downtown pedestrian underpass. On Election Day in November, Riverside voters will have the opportunity to state whether they are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
And Riverside residents have been putting their money toward a whole lot of things in recent years. In 2004, residents approved both a $2 million bond issue for street improvements and a generous increase for Riverside Elementary School District 96. In 2006, they ponied up for a $59 million renovation of Riverside-Brookfield High School.
In our mind, these were all examples of money well spent. The return on the investment in those institutions and programs will serve many, many residents very well for years to come.
Those tax hikes were not the end of the line, however. The village will continue to be hit with school referendums in the future. The condition of the village’s roads will be a perennial-and expensive-issue. In addition, the village will likely come to voters with ideas for other civic improvements, whether it’s for the reuse of such obsolete properties as the old Youth Center/Public Works facility or the old Northgate water tower pump house.
For the village to spend upwards of $4 million to rehabilitate a pedestrian tunnel that is used by a limited number of residents appears questionable at best. We reiterate that $4 million in a village the size of Riverside can provide a great deal of tangible benefit to its residents-roads, new village facilities, you name it. In short, it’s a ton of money.
And while the safety of school children is certainly a sound and appropriate concern, we still fail to see why it should fall to the village alone to bear that responsibility. This is a tunnel that runs beneath the right-of-way of a major railroad company. Why is it that the railroad companies profess to have zero responsibility in maintaining the safety of such right-of-way crossings?
Perhaps the village could set up a toll booth at Longcommon Road and collect a suitable fee from the vastly long freight trains that creep through the village and even stop on the tracks completely, interrupting traffic. Berwyn could set one up at Oak Park Avenue, where trains routinely grind to a halt while pulling into the rail yard to the east.
The point here is that for the village to come up with the entire amount to rehab the tunnel is simply onerous and unfair. Whether village residents go ahead and vote for the advisory referendum in November is beside the point. It’s time for the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad to step up and act like a partner in keeping its crossing safe.