New and refurbished stations on the way for CTA, Metra

 By Ted Villaire

CTA and Metra have been busy drawing up plans for new and revamped train stations around the region.

In the works for CTA are new stations in the West Loop and Skokie. Metra is building a new station for the Rock Island Line in Bronzeville, and is revamping its Winnetka station and 10 other stations in the west suburbs.

Here’s a closer look at these projects.

Metra projects

New Bronzeville Station on Rock Island Line
By the end of the year, a new Rock Island Metra Line station will open its doors on 35th Street. Metra expects the station to get plenty of use from Bridgeport and Bronzeville residents, as well as students and staff at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), located adjacent to the station, and White Sox fans heading to U.S. Cellular Field, located just west across I-90/I-94.

What are the features of the stations?
Expect to see heated waiting shelters, bike racks and the standard audio and visual information system. The fully accessible station will also have heated ramps.

What’s the cost?
Metra officials said the $11.7 million station will be covered by $4.9 million in federal money secured by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and $6.8 million in stimulus dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Did you know?
IIT provided Metra an easement on its property to facilitate the construction of the station.

Refurbishing the Winnetka station on UP North Line
Work is also wrapping up at the end of the year on a project to refurbish the Winnekta Station on the Union Pacific North Metra Line.

What work is being done on the station?
Metra is refurbishing the street-level depot, the pedestrian bridge and six stairways. Metra users will find new platforms and platform shelters, as well as new elevators and vestibules.

What’ll it cost?
Stimulus dollars will cover the project’s cost of nearly $5 million.

Did you know?
This stretch of the UP North Line operates within a trench that was built in the 1940s to keep local pedestrians safe.

Union Pacific West improvements
As part of a large project aimed at helping commuter and freight trains operate more smoothly and efficiently, 10 stations on the Union Pacific West Line will see improvements. Those stations are Maywood, Melrose Park, Bellwood, Berkeley, Elmhurst, Villa Park, Glen Ellyn, College Avenue, Winfield and Geneva.

Most of the work will be finished by the end of the year; a few elements of the project will take a year or two longer. Metra officials say the project will reduce passenger and freight train delays by half and will reduce crossing gate downtime by 11 percent.

What are the improvements?
• Enhanced train warning system
• New paths for pedestrians
• More pedestrian gates and fences
• Longer platforms
• Improved train traffic flow by adding a third track from just west of West Chicago’s depot to Elburn
• A pedestrian tunnel in Lombard and a pedestrian overpass in Wheaton

What’s the cost?
The $112 million cost for the station and track upgrades are being split by Metra and the Union Pacific Railroad.

Did you know?
The Union Pacific West Metra line was Chicago’s first railroad. It was originally named the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad when it was built in 1848.

CTA Projects

New Yellow Line station
Earlier this summer, CTA broke ground for the first new station on the Yellow Line since it opened in 1964. The station, under construction at Oakton St. near Skokie Blvd., will provide access to downtown Skokie, as well as Skokie’s new 23-acre Illinois Science and Technology Park.

What are some features of the new station?
• Entrances on both Oakton Street and Skokie Boulevard near Searle Parkway
• Wide platform with full canopy
• Accessible ramps for each entrance
• Bicycle parking

What’s the cost?
Total cost is expected to be around $20 million; about $14 million of that will be paid for by the federal government. A new tax increment financing (TIF) district is set up around the station site to supplement that funding.

Did you know?
CTA is currently looking into the option of extending the Yellow Line more than a mile north to Old Orchard Road.

New Morgan Station
To address the needs of a neighborhood growing by leaps and bounds, CTA is building a new Morgan Street station to serve the Green and Pink Lines in the West Loop. Construction started this summer and is expected to be wrapped up in early 2012.

What are some features of the new station?
• Elevator access to both platforms and other accessibility features
• Two station houses at street level
• Transfer bridge between platforms
• Ample bicycle parking at street level racks

What’s the cost?
The price tag for this station is expected to be $35 to $40 million. A federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant will cover $8 million of the cost. TIF money is expected to cover the remaining amount.

Did you know?
This will not be the first “L” station at Morgan and Lake Streets. The earlier station, built in 1892 in an ornate Victorian style, was shut down and demolished in 1948.