The Mt. Vernon City Council met and approved a resolution for an agreement concerning the opening of 7th Street Rail Crossing in Mt. Vernon with Milano Railcar Services, LLC and Evansville Western Railway, Inc. Mt. Vernon Mayor John Lewis addressed the issue at the meeting saying he received numerous phone calls on the subject and every caller did not have all the facts.

In 2012, Evansville Western representative, Greg Phelps, came before the City Council regarding a proposed project to construct a rail switch into Milano Rail Services rail yard.

According to September 10, 2012 Workshop minutes, Phelps stated that “it is imperative to close a portion of 7th Street for safety reasons as well as to reduce construction costs.” Subsequent to the workshop and testimony, the City Council voted to close the 7th Street crossing to facilitate the rail improvements and support business expansion in Mt. Vernon. Mayor Lewis gave some context on statements made by the Milano Railway.

The Council also received concerns the contract between the city and Milano Railcar Services was a mistake.

Mayor Lewis continued on saying, in his opinion, the past statements made by the railway companies for a closure, were done in an effort to “not have to spend the money for those upgrades mandated by federal law”.

The closure has been an inconvenience for some residents of Mt. Vernon as well as Milano Rail Services; the focus has always been on safety and economic development. Many citizens had questioned why the area could not just return to its previous look while the signals were being fixed. Mayor Lewis’ explanation followed…

Four entities are now involved in opening this crossing; The Federal Railroad Administration, The Illinois Commerce Commission, The Illinois Department of Transportation, the private land owner…Evansville Western. The latest information is that funding is now available and Evansville Western is working with the ICC on the grant to begin fixing the crossing. The ICC has assured the Council they will expedite this process through the state of Illinois and Evansville Western will not wait for the funding to order the materials necessary for the work to begin. The ICC originally stated the city could use the old signals if they still worked; however, they do not and are not even in the correct location.  Mayor Lewis finished with one final thought on the pending vote to accept the agreement concerning the opening of the crossing.

The vote on the contract passed 3-1.