It’s BNSF — not Mother Nature or the village — that tore down trees along tracks in Western Springs; ‘Some of those stumps almost look dangerous’

Western Springs officials are assuring residents the jagged tree trunks along the railroad tracks were not their doing.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway once again is removing trees and landscaping within its right of way, which stretches 17 feet on either side of the railroad from the edge of the rail, village officials said.

Unfortunately, the workers are using a machine that tears the trees apart, leaving them looking shredded and awful, Western Springs Village Manager Ingrid Velkme told the Village Board Monday.

Village Board member James Tyrrell said people have called him asking what happened and wondering if it was a train accident or a tornado that left the jagged tree trunks in its wake.

“Some of those stumps almost look dangerous the way they are jutting (out),” Tyrrell said.

“In 2020, BNSF began vegetation removal in every municipality along the railway tracks from Chicago to Aurora,” Western Springs states on its website. “Removals in Western Springs, La Grange, and Hinsdale were hastened after foliage interfered with the railroad switch gear,” the website states.

Members of the village staff met with the BNSF representatives on multiple occasions to voice concerns over the aesthetic impacts of removing the trees, Village President Alice Gallagher wrote in her weekly newsletter to residents.

“Unfortunately, the village has no jurisdiction over the BNSF right of way and while the BNSF heard the village’s concerns, they made no changes to their removal plan,” Gallagher wrote.

“We are very disappointed with BNSF,” Velkme said. Crews were supposed to come out Monday to do something about the way the tree trunks looked, but none did, Velkme said. “We are not surprised.”

“We are still trying to get some answers from BNSF,” said the village’s director of municipal services, Matthew Supert. The village will remove the stumps, he said.

Some replacement trees were planted on the south side of the tracks last year, and more plantings will be done over the next years, according to village staff.