Freeborn & Peters LLP is pleased to announce that the firm’s Transportation Team has secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) from a U.S. District Court to stop truck traffic rerouting in the Village of Elwood, Ill. The rerouting had directly affected the CenterPoint Intermodal Center (CIC), located approximately 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Last Friday Judge Gary Feinerman of the Northern District of Illinois ordered the Village to remove all traffic barriers and cease enforcement of its traffic ordinance by yesterday. The temporary order remains in effect until a preliminary injunction hearing to be held within the next few weeks. “This is a welcome victory for our client, CenterPoint Properties, which is committed to finding the best solution to traffic and public safety concerns while also continuing to grow the economy and transportation infrastructure that is vital to the region and the nation,” said Freeborn Partner Michael Scotti, lead attorney for the CenterPoint litigation and a member of the firm's Transportation Team. CenterPoint and other plaintiffs, including Union Pacific Corporation and global container shipping business APL, sued the Village to lift the restrictions that redirected truck traffic away from State Route 53 and Walter Strawn Drive. The suit claims that Elwood’s actions severely restrict truck access to and from intermodal facilities in the CenterPoint park, causing irreparable harm to CenterPoint and the other businesses in the CIC. The suit also claims the action violates federal law on interstate commerce and transportation via the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, the Surface Transportation Act and other provisions of federal and state law. Scotti said Judge Feinerman’s granting of the TRO indicates a high likelihood of prevailing on the merits of the case. “The Village took this action to address a local safety issue without taking into consideration regional input from the Illinois Department of Transportation and Will County,” Scotti said. “By not considering regional safety implications of its actions, the Village created new hazards in other areas. Safety continues to be the top priority for CenterPoint, which looks forward to working with all interested parties to address such concerns as they affect the entire region.” Located on more than 6,500 acres stretching from Elwood to Joliet, Ill., the CIC is the largest and most successful inland port in North America. The facility is strategically positioned at the epicenter of the region’s immense transportation infrastructure. Over the past 15 years, CenterPoint has generated more than $7 million annually in new property taxes for Elwood and represent a total investment in the Village of more than $800 million. The development’s benefits to the community include road improvements; support for police and fire services; expansion of public utilities, including a new water and wastewater treatment plant; a Village water tower; and a Village park. Drawing upon Freeborn’s broad and deep bench of litigators focused in diverse, interworking practice areas, Freeborn’s Transportation Team provides counsel and practice advice to transportation industry companies in areas including litigation; regulation and government affairs; M&A transactions; logistics contracting; commercial finance; bankruptcy and financial restructuring; facilities construction and development; environmental, health and safety; labor and employment; and employee benefits and executive compensation.