(The Daily Southtown posted the following article by Jonathan Lipman on its website on April 13.)
CHICAGO — The clickity-clack on Metra’s SouthWest Service line will get less clickity in coming months as the agency upgrades to a better form of track.
Work begins April 19 to replace remaining sections of jointed rail with the superior continuously welded rail, spokeswoman Audrey Renteria said. Along with ongoing station improvements along the line, it’s the first phase in a $200 million project to launch expanded service along the line by 2005.
“By replacing the jointed track, this is one of the first major steps to improving the structure along the corridor,” Renteria said.
The new track will have fewer and less noticeable joints, Renteria said.
“It’s much smoother operation, overall less maintenance and much sturdier,” Renteria said.
Metra is staging the work from a storage yard next to the 179th Street station in Orland Park.
Much of the line already has the superior track, but Metra crews will lay the new track south of 179th Street to Manhattan, where the line will eventually terminate under expanded service, and then between the Ashburn and Oak Lawn stations, where a 2.5-mile section of the old track still lies.
Metra will be able to complete the work without any changes to the train schedules during major commute times, Renteria said.
“Occasionally, the off peak time tables will be adjusted as necessary,” Renteria said. “During those times, we switch to a construction schedule.”
Altered schedules will be posted at the stations as needed. Crews will do most of the work between the passage of trains, jumping off the tracks to let the scheduled runs go by.
The track improvements are part of the larger $198 million project to improve and expand service along the line. A second line of track will eventually run from Chicago to the 143rd Street station and service will increase from 16 to 30 trains per day.
This summer will see improvements at several stations along the line, Renteria said.
At 179th Street, crew will install an additional warming shelter at the station and will improve the landscaping. The agency also plans to realign 179th Street so that it lines up with Brookhill Drive, Renteria said, but that work may be delayed until next year.
The 153rd Street station will also get a new warming shelter and improved landscaping. Planning will also begin soon for a new parking lot at the station. The Orland Park Village Board just approved plans for the Colette Highlands subdivision that will include a new 915-space lot west of the tracks that would connect to the station via an underground pedestrian tunnel.
At the Ashburn station, Metra plans to add a second parking lot on the other side of the tracks across from the current one. The agency purchased a recently demolished warehouse on the site that had been damaged by fire.