METRA Investing Over $2 Billion in Quartet of Chicago Area Commuter Rail Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). The Chicago area is a vast, growing metropolis consisting not only of the city of Chicago itself, but also literally hundreds of smaller towns and cities. In the past decade, the Chicago area has been experiencing a population explosion with tens of thousands of people deciding to make the Chicago area their home and place of business. As a result of this dramatic population growth, there has grown a need to more reliable and dependable transportation services to these outlying areas of the region. To help meet the needs of these areas, METRA (Chicago, Illinois), which provides transportation services to the counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Kane in Northeastern Illinois, has begun plans for a quartet of commuter rail expansions and upgrades valued at over $2.1 billion that will help address some of the transportation concerns of the area.

Headlining this capital effort is the proposed $1.1 billion Star Line commuter rail expansion. The Star Line project involves the construction of 55 miles of commuter rail and nineteen new stations that will extend rail service from Joliet to O’Hare International Airport on Chicago’s northwest side. Currently, METRA is working with a consultant, Parsons Brinkeroff (Chicago, Illinois), on the alternative analysis for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2006. Once METRA receives FTA (Federal Transit Administration) approval, preliminary engineering will begin in the fall of 2007 and a design/build firm will be selected to complete the engineering and handle all aspects of construction in early 2008. Actual construction is scheduled to begin in 2010, with the expansion being complete and operational in 2017.

The second commuter rail project planned by METRA is the proposed $525 million Southwest service expansion. This expansion will involve a 33-mile extension of METRA’s commuter rail line from the LaSalle Street station to Balmoral Park, Illinois and will involve the addition of ten new stations. Earthtech (Chicago, Illinois) is the consultant working with METRA on the alternative analysis for this project, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2006. After FTA approvals, METRA will select a design/build firm in early 2008 and actual construction is anticipated to begin in 2011, with the expansion coming online in 2015.

The next pair of projects in the capital plan involve upgrades to some of METRA’s existing commuter rail systems. The first of these upgrades is the proposed $384 million Union Pacific-West (UP-W) core capacity upgrade. This upgrade project will involve major upgrades of the signal system and communications systems on the west commuter rail line. The project will also involve new track and rail crossovers throughout the west line. The ultimate goal of this project is to make major improvements to the service along the west commuter line, which runs west from Chicago 44 miles to Elburn and services 62 communities. Parsons Company (Roanoke, Illinois) is the consultant working with METRA on the alternative analysis for this project, which should also be complete by the end of 2006. After FTA approvals, a design/build firm will be selected in early 2008 and construction should begin in mid-2009. The upgrade will be complete by 2012.

The second major upgrade is the proposed $144 million Union Pacific-Northwest (UP-NW) core capacity upgrade. This upgrade will revolve around the construction of two new rail yards, one new station, and major upgrades to track and rail infrastructure along the Northwest commuter line. The UP-NW line is METRA’s longest commuter rail line extending from Chicago to Harvard with a 7mile branch that runs to McHenry and services 72 communities in Cook, Lake, and McHenry Counties. DMJM + Harris (Chicago, Illinois) is the consultant working with METRA on the alternative analysis for this project, which will be finished by the end of 2006. FTA approvals are anticipated for early 2007 and a design/build firm will be selected in early 2008. Actual construction should begin in the summer of 2009 and the project will be complete in 2012.

When these four projects are completed by 2017, METRA will have added 30 new stations to its 495-mile rail system that services the Chicago area, with a focus on areas that METRA has never before serviced. The underlying goal of these projects is to keep pace with the population explosion that is ongoing in northeastern Illinois, and hopefully this immense expenditure by METRA will do just that. Only time will tell if any or all of these projects actually make it to the construction stage, but the odds are looking good with the passage of the new Transportation Act in August of 2005. If these projects do begin operations in the years to come they should assuredly help ease some of the traffic congestion problems of the region.

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