Search Results for: Metra

Amtrak asks seven firms to dream up plans for Chicago’s Union Station






Amtrak has asked seven
architectural and real estate firms to submit proposals to redevelop a key part
of Chicago’s Union Station and plans to select a winning proposal by the end of
May, the Chicago Tribune reports. The firms include the Chicago office of
architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Chicago developer U.S. Equities
Realty and the Chicago office of Jones Lang LaSalle, which currently manages
Union Station for Amtrak.

Stadium-goers to get benefit of stimulus funds to unclog rail congestion






The $100-million federal
grant awarded to the Chicago region Feb. 17 to unclog rail congestion will
benefit Jimmy Buffett Parrotheads and Chicago Fire soccer aficionados along
with freight haulers, motorists and rail passengers, the Chicago Tribune
reports. That’s because $20 million of that money will go toward building a
rail/highway underpass on 71st Street, west of Harlem Avenue and across from
Bridgeview’s Toyota Park, a 28,000-seat sports and music venue.

Chicago rail projects getting a $100-million federal boost






A program to reduce train
congestion in the Chicago area is getting a major boost with $100 million in
federal stimulus money for 16 rail projects, officials said Feb. 16, the Chicago
Tribune reports. That’s good news for frustrated Metra and Amtrak passengers,
harried motorists and anxious shippers who are victims of affected by snarled
freight train traffic, officials said. And as part of the stimulus program’s
primary goal, the program is expected to create thousands of jobs.

 

CREATE receives $133 million for 63rd and State Flyover






February 14, 2001

The CREATE Partners said
that the CREATE Program will receive $133 million as part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a critical rail/rail flyover near 63rd
and State Streets in the Englewood community on the south side of Chicago.
The flyover will carry the north-south Metra Rock Island commuter rail line
over the east-west Norfolk Southern/Amtrak line, eliminating conflict between
78 Metra Rock Island trains and approximately 60 freight and Amtrak trains that
presently cross at grade each day.

Elgin, Ill., group studying future of transportation






Continuing talks on
making the area more environmentally friendly focused Tuesday night on
expanding the use of trains, buses and bicycles countywide, according to the
Elgin Courier News, The Elgin, Ill., Community Network hosted a discussion at
Gail Borden Public Library that looked at the future of transportation in the
area. Among those attending were representatives from Metra, Kane County
Division of Transportation and Schaumburg-based engineering firm TranSystems,
the company contracted to draft the city’s Bikeway Master Plan.

CREATE completes strategic rail connection in McCook, Ill.






A key rail connection and
capacity expansion project of the Chicago Region Environmental and
Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program is now operational in McCook,
Ill. The $13.1-million federally- and privately-funded McCook Connection
project (Project B6) provides additional connectivity between the Indiana
Harbor Belt, CSX Transportation and BNSF rail lines. Trains that had to wait or
travel at a maximum speed of 10 miles an hour are now able to proceed through
the area at 25 miles per hour as they move onto mainline tracks near the United
Parcel Service Willow Springs Distribution Center.

CREATE could boost high-speed rail projects

High-speed rail is a glamorous idea — it’s fun to imagine a train streaking through the cornfields from Chicago to St. Louis in four hours. Less glamorous are some of the fixes that need to be made to Chicago’s notoriously slow freight rail system. Talk about projects like "signalize interlocking" and "grade separation," and eyes glaze over, The Chicago Sun Times reports.

Durbin reports major funding for Illinois projects

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that the final Omnibus Appropriations Act that includes $126,432,544 in funding for several Illinois projects was approved by a joint House and Senate Conference Committee of which Durbin is a member. The House and Senate are expected to take up and pass the legislation before the end of the year. The bill will then go to the President for his signature.

Illinois offers comprehensive agreement for CTA, paratransit






Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
said an agreement has been reached with the Chicago region’s major transit
agencies that will prevent fare increases for the Chicago Transit Authority and
Pace paratransit services in 2010 and 2011. The agreement was made between the
State of Illinois, the Regional Transportation Authority, Chicago Transit
Authority, Metra and Pace.

Amtrak eyes moving Ill. station






A plan is in the works to
eliminate some of the lengthy stoppages on Glenview Road caused by train
traffic at the downtown Glenview, Ill., train station, the Sun-Times reports. If
the General Assembly, Glenview and Metra make good on their funding pieces,
Amtrak officials have agreed to move the stops for the Hiawatha and Empire
Builder routes from the downtown Glenview Metra station to The Glen of North
Glenview station.

CTA Circle Line plan makes rounds






Plans for the long-awaited
Circle Line, which would link CTA and Metra rail lines in Chicago’s growing
central area, are a step closer to being realized after the Chicago Transit
Authority completed its analysis of options for the project, the Chicago Tribune
reports.

Wave of the future in Chicago: mass transit






The future ain’t what it
used to be. Back in 1930, the movie "Just Imagine" dreamed of the
world of 1980, when everyone has a flying car. Other sci-fi scenarios pictured
personal jet packs and individual transit "pods" gliding along
monorails, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Environmental assessment for Chicago-Iowa City passenger service






The Iowa Department of
Transportation, in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Transportation,
is seeking public input concerning the environmental assessment of proposed
routes for intercity passenger rail service between Iowa City and Chicago.
Released for public review on Sept. 25, the EA will be presented and discussed
at a public input meeting Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Moline, Ill.

Orland Park, Ill., on track to become quiet zone






 

Orland Park, Ill., is
moving forward with efforts to become a railway quiet zone, local newspapers
report. At a public works and engineering committee meeting, Robinson
Engineering recommended channeling poles be installed at railroad crossings at
159th Street and at Wolf Road. The poles are installed
at the center line near the railroad crossing to prevent cars from going around
the gates, Robinson Engineering representative Jeff Pintar explained.

Park Forest, Ill., CN appear ready to finalize agreement






By now, those of us who
usually drive between Sauk Trail and Indianwood Boulevard on Orchard Drive in
Park Forest have found new ways to get from here to there, according to a
column by Jerry Schnay in the Southtown Star. The village is replacing sewer
pipes in the area, the start of a three-year project that will eventually
result in the complete renovation of Orchard Drive, including a center turn
lane north of Lakewood Boulevard and two left-turn lanes at the intersection of
U.S. 30 at the north end of town.

Chicago $15.6-billion plan includes West Loop transit hub

A guide for downtown growth
through 2020 that calls for $15.6 billion in public works was endorsed by the
Chicago Plan Commission, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Chicago Central
Area Action Plan would allocate most of the spending for transportation
projects. The most expensive would be a $6-billion West Loop transit hub
beneath Clinton Street with a multilevel connection between Metra and CTA
service.

 

Illinois locals line up for rail bonanza

Jim Coston is betting
that the billions of federal dollars aimed at a high-speed rail system could
reassert Chicago’s place as the nation’s rail center — and jump-start his
attempt to resurrect a business that flourished here a century ago: building
passenger rail cars Crain’s Chicago Business reports.

 

BNSF doing track work in Chicago western suburbs

BNSF will conduct work along the tracks from Naperville, Ill., into downtown Chicago the week of August 10 and in September, the Clarendon Hills Doings reports. The work will cause minimal pedestrian and traffic delays in Clarendon Hills from Aug. 11-13 and Sept. 6-10. The crews will be in Hinsdale Aug. 12-13 and Sept. 7-10, in Western Springs Sept. 9-10 and 13, and La Grange Sept. 9-10 and 13-14.

Rockford, Ill., officials seek commuter trains

Rockford, Ill., area officials pushing to bring commuter train service Metra to Winnebago County are using Amtrak to help deliver the service – and their efforts threaten to derail DeKalb County’s bid for passenger rail service, according to the Northwest Herald.