(The following article by Kimberly Fornek was post on the Buffalo Grove Countryside’s website on August 14.)
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. — Local officials are happy to promote progress on one project that should make a commuter’s life easier — the expansion of service on Metra’s North Central line.
Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein was so overjoyed, he wanted to sing about it.
He met U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-10th, and other officials at the Buffalo Grove Metra station Monday afternoon to announce the House Appropriations Committee had approved $52 million in funding to improve commuter rail service in northern Illinois.
The North Central line, which runs between Antioch and Chicago with stations in between, will get $20 million of that amount to continue adding a second track. The double tracking of the rail line will allow the number of weekday trains to increase from 10 to 22. Hartstein encouraged Wheeling Village President Greg Klatecki and State Rep. Sidney Mathias, R-53rd, to join him in a song he wrote specifically to thank Kirk for his efforts to secure money from Congress for the project.
To the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” the group sang, “He’s been workin’ on the North Central … In Washington D.C. He’s been workin’ on the North Central … to make double tracking a reality. We can see the money comin’ …”
Before the money will reach Metra, however, the Senate also must approve the appropriation.
The public announcement and song just before a Metra train pulled into the Buffalo Grove station on Commerce Court and Deerfield Parkway served as “a pep rally to get the Senate moving,” said Matt Towson, the congressman’s press secretary. Kirk said he does not expect opposition from the Senate.
“I think we’re a go,” Kirk said
Metra officials hope to have the second track installed and the additional trains running by the end of 2005. The grading of the area in Buffalo Grove and the relocation of some utility lines have been completed. The track will be laid next, followed by the installation of the signals, said Jack Groner, in charge of general development for Metra.
“We’re right on schedule,” he said.
Once the double tracking is complete, Northwest suburban commuters will be able to enjoy the same convenience of frequent train service to downtown Chicago as do residents of the North Shore, Kirk said.
“That is the key to ridership,” he said. “You can get to work early or late. You can come home early or late. Right now we have a rather inflexible schedule.”
Trains on the North Central line currently run primarily during weekday rush hours.
Adding a second track to allow trains to run to and from Chicago throughout the day will be an improvement not only for commuters to Chicago, Kirk said. Traffic congestion will ease for all motorists, property values in the area will rise and air quality will improve, he said.
The second track already reaches Wheeling. But because trains must share a single track to continue north to Buffalo Grove, traffic backs up on Dundee Road while trains wait for their turn to proceed, Klatecki said. He looks forward to the completion of the entire second track to ease that congestion.
Metra officials estimate the total cost of the double-track project to be $225 million. The federal government agreed to pay for 60 percent of the total cost, with the remainder paid by the state and local municipalities. Although the federal government agreed to its share of the bill, the funds will not be released unless Congress approves a portion of the amount as part of each year’s Transportation Bill, which must be signed by the president.