LOWELL, Ind. (AP): Hundreds of people attended a pair of public forums on a proposed $8 billion, 278-mile rail line from Indiana to Wisconsin that a developer says would greatly relieve Chicago-area freight congestion.

At a forum Tuesday by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in northwestern Indiana, Lake County officials and state Sen. Rick Niemeyer of Lowell spoke out against the proposal by Great Lakes Basin Transportation to build a rail line that could handle 110 trains a day.

Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub says the plan would annihilate home values.

Chris Tebbens of Hebron, about 20 miles southeast of Gary, says the line would bring tracks within 400 feet of his rural home. He says he doesn’t want 110 trains a day running past his house.