Freeborn & Peters LLP has announced 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. 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.”