Metra backs away from moving Ravenswood station

Written by jrood

Residents on Ravenswood Avenue on Chicago's North Side were so upset by the idea of a Metra station closer to their homes that they complained to officials, circulated a petition, formed an association and hired an attorney, the Chicago Tribune reports. Their efforts seem to have worked.

Metra officials and the
area’s alderman have backed away from a plan to move the Metra’s busy
Ravenswood station north of Lawrence Avenue from its current location south of
the street. Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said Metra, in consultation with
Ald. Gene Schulter, 47th, had decided to build the new station on the same site
as it sits now.

While the move would have
been a matter of several hundred feet, residents said the station is best
suited to the industrial area in which it currently sits. They feared an
increase in noise and a decrease in property values.

"These are very
desirable properties, and they won’t be," said Adam Epstein, president of
the new Ravenswood Neighbors Association. Epstein, 41, bought land in the short
stretch of Ravenswood between Lawrence Avenue and Ainslie Street in 2006, had a
home built and finally moved in last month. Ten days later, on June 29, he
learned of Metra’s plans at an open house hosted by Schulter.

"(They were) talking
about putting a train station in front of our house. Had we known, we wouldn’t
have bought here," said Epstein.

Metra officials have long
planned to rebuild 22 bridges along the Union Pacific North line and tied a new
Ravenswood station into the $185-million project about a year ago. The station
would be part of the first phase of the bridge project, which means it would
have to be completed in the next four years. The overall bridge project – which
spans eight years – gained urgency when Metra secured federal job-stimulus
money to pay for some of the cost.

Schulter said the timetable
for using stimulus money sped up the project, which left less time than usual
for feedback. Residents have complained they weren’t informed of plans soon
enough.

"In a perfect world,
you would love to have as much time as possible," Schulter said. Earlier
in the week, Schulter indicated he wasn’t in favor of moving the station. He
and other zoning committee members had deferred action on an amendment that
would have changed the neighborhood’s zoning from residential to a
transportation district to make way for the station.

Metra officials want to
build a longer platform to accommodate more passengers; it is currently a
no-frills platform 400 feet long. Moving the station north would have extended
the platform 750 feet north of Lawrence. That was preferable because the
platform would not have been built over a bridge, which is more expensive and
requires more maintenance, Gillis said. If expanded south, the platform would
grow to 750 feet and pass over the Leland Avenue bridge.

Frank Hoffman, 52, a
condominium owner who lives on Ravenswood, was happy to hear officials were
reconsidering the original plan.

"If they move the
train station across the street, it will definitely impact our quality of
life," he said. But Hoffman, who rides Metra to work and to recreational
outings, agrees the station’s rickety, old steps need repair.

"We believe a new
station is needed. We understand that," he said, adding that renovating
the existing station would accomplish that.

Metra officials say that
upgrading would entail adding ramps to comply with the Americans with Disabilities
Act, installing warming shelters, improving the lighting and adding vendor
space and landscaping.

Despite Metra trains that
pass by, Epstein described his neighborhood as quiet, even bucolic. A huge tree
canopy stretches across the street, where automobile traffic is minimal. Homes
have spacious front and back yards in a neighborhood of professionals in their
40s and 50s and families.

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