City Council opposes Amtrak's Canal Street rail yard plan near Bridgeport and Chinatown

A 49-0 resolution from Ald. Nicole Lee asks Amtrak to pause its federally funded maintenance yard until its environmental studies are public.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 20, 2026

Ald. Nicole T. Lee (11th Ward), in a White Sox jersey, speaks from her seat at the Committee on Transportation and Public Way hearing on Amtrak's plan, Oct. 7, 2026City of Chicago video

The Chicago City Council has gone on record against Amtrak's plan to build a train maintenance facility in the Canal Street Yard, the elevated rail yard that runs past Chinatown, Armour Square and Bridgeport. On Oct. 14 the Council adopted a resolution, R2026-0028877, by a vote of 49 to 0. Ald. Monique L. Scott (24th Ward) did not vote.

The resolution, filed by Ald. Nicole T. Lee (11th Ward) with 34 co-sponsors, opposes the facility in its current form and location. It calls on Amtrak to pause the project until a federal environmental determination and its supporting studies are public.

The stakes are spelled out in the resolution. It counts an estimated 6,741 residents within 500 feet of the proposed yard, including more than 1,000 children and more than 1,500 people over 65. About 29 residents live that close to Amtrak's current yard at 14th Street.

The resolution itself does not stop the project. Amtrak told the Council's transportation committee that the Federal Railroad Administration, not the City, makes the environmental decision, and that agency issued it in May. What the Council can do is press for documents, and that fight is now on the record.

"It is a needed and important improvement, but this is not simply a relocation of rail maintenance operations. It appears to be enabling the first step of a much larger private real estate transaction, financed substantially by federal taxpayer dollars."

Ald. Nicole T. Lee (11th Ward), Committee on Transportation and Public Way, Oct. 7, 2026

Amtrak's team said the project would bring its trains into a state of good repair, with about 3,000 construction jobs and about 400 jobs once it opens.

What would Amtrak build, and where?

According to Amtrak's presentation to the committee on Oct. 7, the yard runs between Canal and Stewart from just north of Cermak Road to Pershing Road. Train storage and a car wash would sit between 26th and 29th streets. The main building, a train shed, would run from 33rd to 35th Street.

The resolution puts federal support at up to $572 million for the facility and up to $87 million for bridge and viaduct repairs. Amtrak confirmed those two grants when Ald. Michelle A. Harris (8th Ward) asked.

Lee described a building large enough to service nine trains at once, four stories tall and running around the clock. She said a Chicago public school sits 586 feet from it and Armour Square Park 413 feet away.

The resolution lists Armour Square Park, Armour Square Senior Homes, T.E. Brown Senior Apartments and Wentworth Gardens Homes nearby. It names Robert Healy Elementary, Minnie Miñoso Academy, Air Force Academy High School, Armour Elementary, Bridgeport Catholic Academy and De La Salle Institute among area schools.

Amtrak said its 14th Street yard is aging and too cramped to service a whole train in one building. Rebuilding it in place, it said, would disrupt service for years. It said trains would move through the yard at 5 to 10 miles per hour, with engines off overnight, and that the project adds no trains.

Its noise study found moderate impacts at four spots along the tracks and none elsewhere, the presenters said, and no vibration impacts. They said the nearest homes are about 120 feet from the new building.

Ald. Nicole T. Lee on what the Amtrak yard would mean for the 11th Ward Committee on Transportation and Public Way, Oct 7, 2026 · 2:32:38–2:34:11

What supporters and opponents said

The sharpest complaints were about documents. The federal agency approved the project under a categorical exclusion, which Lee said means no independent environmental impact study is required.

Amtrak has said it will publish its studies. Lee said the community is still waiting.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) asked the chair to formally request the technical analysis and field data behind all 12 areas the environmental review covered.

"And it's highly unusual to have a subject matter hearing where the documents related to that subject have not been provided to us."

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), Committee on Transportation and Public Way, Oct. 7, 2026

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), whose ward includes blocks south of 35th Street near the planned train shed, said no one from the project contacted her office between 2023 and 2026. She said three of the four noise locations rated moderate are south of 35th Street, near Wentworth Gardens and T.E. Brown Apartments.

"And so in three years, there was not a letter, email, phone call to anybody that would be impacted by this development."

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), Committee on Transportation and Public Way, Oct. 7, 2026

Ald. Andre Vasquez Jr. (40th Ward) asked Amtrak to show the committee its record of conversations with Lee's office, and Amtrak agreed. Ald. David H. Moore (17th Ward) said he could not see the project as positive for the community.

Lee also tied the plan to the White Sox, saying it is part of a plan to move the team out of the 11th Ward. Amtrak said its federal application does not mention a White Sox stadium. Its development partner, Canal Edge, called the yard a separate project from any decision about the team.

Public comment split. Residents and community groups spoke against the location. Labor and building trades speakers backed the project for its construction and rail jobs.

What happens next?

The committee recommended the resolution by voice vote on Oct. 7, and the full Council adopted it a week later. Copies go to Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, federal and state environmental regulators, the governor and attorney general, the Cook County Board president and Illinois' members of Congress.

Amtrak offered to return and walk the committee through its environmental studies once they are published. Lee said she has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the federal agency. She asked Amtrak to commit to no construction until an environmental impact study is shared with the community.

The Council's next regular meetings are set for Dec. 8 and 9. Residents can reach the 11th Ward office, or sign up for public comment at a Council or committee meeting.