Editing Barrington, Illinois (section)

===21st century===
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In April 2009, in a [[non-binding referendum]], residents voted in favor of permitting [[Barrington Township, Cook County, Illinois|Barrington Township]] officials to begin looking into seceding from [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] in part due to Cook County's increased sales tax,<ref name="BarCourRevElctn">{{cite web| author=Tony A. Solano| title=Abboud wins second term as president| url=http://www.pioneerlocal.com/barrington/news/1518114,ba-election1-040909-s1.article| publisher=Barrington Courier Review| date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=May 9, 2009| quote=Residents voted in favor of permitting township officials to begin looking into seceding from Cook County by a vote of 975 to 507 with 13 of 14 precincts reporting.}}</ref> now the highest in the country.<ref name="HoffPstSecd">{{cite news| author=Taliaferro, Tim| title=Three Townships Vote To Secede From Cook County, But Will They?| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/08/three-townships-vote-to-s_n_184680.html| work=The Huffington Post| date=April 8, 2009| access-date=May 9, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090412035439/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/08/three-townships-vote-to-s_n_184680.html| archive-date= April 12, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> (''See'' [[#Relationship with Cook County|Government]] section below.) Today, Barrington and its nearby villages are considered to be some of the wealthiest in the country.<ref name="ChiEncyBar"/>

====Opposition to Canadian National Railway Purchase of EJ&E Railway====
Since 2008, Barrington has made national news for its opposition to the purchase of the [[Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway|EJ&E]] by [[Canadian National Railway]], known as "CN", a purchase that may drastically increase the number of freight trains passing through the village daily.<ref name="NPR_Rail">{{cite news| title= Plan To Unsnarl Chicago Rail Hits Snags In Suburbs |last=Schaper | first = David| url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92633264| work = [[Morning Edition]]| agency = [[National Public Radio]]| date=July 28, 2008 |access-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="EconTrnWrk">{{cite news| title=Nimbyism in the Midwest – Train wreck in suburbia| url= http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12208702| newspaper=The Economist| date=September 11, 2008 |access-date=May 7, 2009}}</ref> The EJ&E intersects at grade with eight major roads in the Barrington area, including [[U.S. Route 14|Northwest Highway]], [[Illinois State Route 59]] and [[Lake Cook Road]] in downtown Barrington, as well as the [[Metra]] Union Pacific line.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/|title=Chicago Suburbs News - Chicago Tribune|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=April 9, 2020}}</ref> By 2012, CN is expected to run at least 20 trains on the line per day.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/> In summer 2008, [[Barack Obama]], then a [[U.S. senator]] for Illinois, voiced opposition to the purchase, vowing to work with affected communities to make sure their views were considered.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/>

On October 15, 2010, the CN railroad crossing at [[U.S. Route 14]], as well as rail crossings at Lake Zurich Road and Cuba Road, were blocked for over one and half hours during the early afternoon rush hour due to a stopped 133-car CN southeast bound freight train.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/> At times during the incident, the [[Illinois State Route 59|Hough Street]] crossing was also blocked.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/> The stopped train also caused back-ups on the Metra commuter rail service of their "Union Pacific Northwest Line", which operates over Union Pacific's Harvard and McHenry subdivisions.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/> That same day, [[U.S. Rep.]] [[Melissa Bean]] (D-8th) and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Dick Durbin]] (D-Ill.) released a statement that Barrington will receive a $2.8 million grant to fund the planning, design and engineering of a [[grade separation]] at the [[U.S. Route 14]] and CN railroad crossing.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/>  Construction of any grade separation at that intersection is estimated to cost approximately $69 million; the source(s) of any such funding are currently unknown, and there are currently no plans to design or construct grade separations at any of the other seven Barrington area CN railroad crossings.<ref name="pioneerlocal.com"/>