Local News
Fight Over Tracks One of Top Stories for 2014
A parallel set of Burlington Northern railroad tracks through part of La Crosse wound up as one of our biggest news stories for the year. Number three on our top ten list. Opposition to the tracks focused on key areas of concern like additional noise, vibration, and chances for explosion. But there also seemed to be some more subtle opposition to the oil shale fracking process that was wrapped up into the conversation about the tracks, as we heard from activist Maureen Freedland earlier in the year during her criticism of BNSF
The city council in October agreed to stop fighting the tracks in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements paid for by BNSF. Other opposition continues, however, and will likely be vocal at a DNR public hearing to be held next week in La Crosse.
