(The following story by John Roszkowski appeared on the St. Paul Pioneer Press website on July 27.)
CHICAGO — Metra officials have outlined plans for a possible future expansion of the Union Pacific Northwest commuter line, which would include adding more trains to the line and expanded service in McHenry County.
The Union Pacific Northwest Line is Metra’s longest line, extending from Chicago west to Harvard with a 7-mile northern branch to McHenry. The train line includes stops in Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Barrington, Fox River Grove and Cary.
Part of Metra’s expansion plan calls for extending a northerly branch in McHenry County from McHenry to Johnsburg, where a new station would be built, and constructing new rail yards in Johnsburg and Woodstock.
Metra also is proposing infrastructure improvements that would allow it to increase the number of daily trains that run along the line. Under the plan, the total number of daily trains is expected to grow from 63 to 74, with a potential expansion of express trains from 19 to 24 a day.
“This expansion would better serve McHenry County and western Lake and the growing population there,” said Metra spokesman Patrick Waldron.
But Waldron said the proposed expansion has not yet been funded and there’s no specific timetable for completion. He said it would take at least four years after federal funding becomes available to design, acquire land and make the improvements. No cost estimates have been determined but the total improvements likely would cost in excess of $100 million.
“Right now, Metra is at the very beginning of the process,” he said. “There would be infrastructure, signal and track improvements along the line but I don’t have an answer on specifically where those would be at this point. Those kind of specifics will come later.”
Waldron said Metra plans to outline more details on the proposed improvements at public meetings this fall.
Barrington Village President Karen Darch said while she’s pleased Metra is looking at ways to improve service along the line, she worries that an increase number of trains may cause more traffic congestion in their town. She said the rail line crosses two major roadways in town, Lake Cook Road (Main Street) and state Route 59 (Hough Street).
“More trains in the morning during the critical rush hours is a problem because of all of the traffic at that time,” she said. “The number of trains coming through really impacts the vehicular traffic.”
Instead of more trains, Darch said she would like to see Metra consider longer trains with additional cars that could carry more passengers. If Metra does increase the frequency of trains, Darch said it may need to look at grade separations at the rail-roadway crossings in Barrington. Another alternative that may help alleviate some of the congestion is more commuter buses that would transport passengers from the train station to and from their jobs, she said.
Some other communities along the line see a need for improved rail service.
Arlington Heights Village President Arlene Mulder said several thousand commuters take the train to downtown Chicago every day from the two stations in the town along the line.
“There’s definitely a need because I ride the Northwest line and it’s crowded,” she said.
Metra officials point to population and economic forecasts which project employment along the corridor to increase by more than 60 percent by 2030.
“I think if you look at all of the projections for 2030 and 2040 it’s clear there’s no way to meet all of the traffic needs,” said Mulder. “Traffic is in serious gridlock right now. I think there are going to be more and more demands on transit.”