More than half a dozen new transit initiatives are proposed for the northwest suburbs in the coming decades. However, the proposals range from partially constructed to little more than a line on a map.
With the exception of new stations and tracks on Metra’s North Central line, it is possible none will be built. Each is subject to national and local political considerations as well as federal funding. Even if approved, the projects could in the coming years be almost unrecognizable from their current forms.
Transit officials, though, are hopeful the area will benefit from a resurgence in enthusiasm for mass transit.
“I vividly remember at my first public hearing in 1976, I was called a communist,” said Philip Pagano, executive director of Metra. “Times have changed. Every service region wants more commuter service, more lines and more trains. And the northwest suburbs are certainly a substantial engine for that demand.”
The Northwest Corridor
Many of the proposals center on the Northwest Corridor, a megaphone-shaped planning area running between Metra’s Milwaukee West line and the Union Pacific Northwest line.
All three major transit service agencies are preparing transit system proposals, and–with one exception–each would use the Northwest Tollway. The Chicago Transit Authority could venture beyond the city’s borders with a proposed extension of the Blue Line from O’Hare International Airport to Schaumburg. Pace, the regional bus transit service, has proposed an express service down the Northwest Tollway. Pagano said Metra planned to release a proposal by year’s end.
Northwest mayors have said they prefer rail, but have given little indication which agency’s proposal they prefer, said Leanne Redden, Schaumburg’s director of transportation.
“There is an advantage to the sense of permanency from rail, and it creates an opportunity for development around the stations,” Redden said. “Also, I think some of the mayors believe suburban riders are more comfortable getting on a train because they know exactly where it’s headed.”
A major goal of the study is to find a way to increase mass transit use within the corridor, that is, suburb-to-suburb transit. A Regional Transportation Authority study found that less than 5 percent of commuters traveling to job sites within the corridor use mass transit. Redden said the original push for a major new transit initiative came from business leaders with employees having more trouble getting to work.
Larry Bury, transportation director for the Northwest Municipal Conference, said the region’s employment is expected to rise from 500,000 to 750,000 jobs by 2020.
Because employers, public officials and commuters are becoming so interested in a northwest suburban transit system, Bury believes one of the options will someday become reality.
“I think based on the local support, it’s a pretty safe bet,” Bury said.
The RTA board of directors will have the final say on which option to move forward. A local study overseen by RTA staffers will release a local recommendation as early as next spring.
Even if Metra doesn’t win the interagency competition, planners with the commuter rail agency could have their hands full in the northwest suburbs.
Expansion projects
In June, the agency began construction of a $225 million expansion project on the North Central line (which runs from Union Station to Antioch). Scheduled for completion in 2006, the project includes new stations in Rosemont, Des Plaines, Schiller Park and Franklin Park, as well as adding track for expanded service.
Officials at Metra believe the new North Central stations could open in 2005 and 2006.
Metra continues updating suburban stations, including relatively new facilities in Arlington Heights, Palatine and, most recently, Prospect Heights. A new $1 million Prospect Heights station was dedicated in September, replacing a temporary station that began operation in 1996. The facility is smaller and more narrow than other newer stations to accommodate double tracking on the North Central line, Metra spokesman Tom Miller said.
Metra is also slated to begin construction in April on a 5-mile extension of the Union Pacific West line from Geneva to Elburn.
Perhaps the most revolutionary section of the Metra drawing board is reserved for twin proposals to add what Metra calls “circumferential” transit. All extant Metra service is geared to moving people between the suburbs and the city. The “Outer Circumferential” proposal would, for the first time, provide multiple connections to the commuter rail system outside of downtown Chicago. The proposal would provide a rough semicircle of intersuburban service through four counties: Lake, Cook, DuPage and Will.
“An increasing percentage of the jobs are in the suburbs,” said Linda Bolte, deputy for planning for the Chicago Area Transportation Study. “I do think this represents a change in mind-set that recognizes we should attempt to start adding the wheel to the spokes.”
The proposal calls for new tracks along the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, a freight line. The rail line cuts across the northwest corner of Cook County.
In many ways, the project would be daunting. A 1999 Metra study estimated the project would cost $1.3 billion and take 15 years. Metra has said a new commuter line likely would be approved and installed in sections.
Almost as radical would be the 22-mile “Inner Circumferential” route, linking O’Hare and Midway Airports, as well connecting with four Metra lines.
A feasibility study for both suburb-to-suburb routes has concluded there are no “fatal flaws” blocking either proposal from coming to fruition.
Blue Line extension
The CTA has only one proposal directly affecting the northwest suburbs, but it is perhaps the most high profile of the bunch: CTA officials propose extending Blue Line service to Schaumburg; the Blue Line currently ends at O’Hare.
The original proposed extension route ran along the Northwest Tollway with stops in Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines, Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and a final stop at what would be a new Schaumburg Convention Center.
The CTA released something of a surprise in October, with an alternate route that didn’t travel along the Northwest Tollway. Instead, the train would travel along the southern edge of O’Hare, down the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway and up the Interstate Highway 290/Illinois Highway 53 extension. The alternate proposal would still end in Schaumburg. Stations would be built in Wood Dale/Bensenville, Itasca and Elk Grove Village.
Bury said he believes CTA officials see the alternate proposal to some extent as a backup plan in case there is some technical wall to providing service along the Northwest Tollway.
The CTA has released no cost estimate for either proposal.
Pace officials have proposed three alternatives for bus-based rapid transit in the Northwest Corridor. Pace officials believe bus rapid transit could be achieved at significantly less cost than rail, spokesman Blaine Krage said.
Two alternatives involve express routes for buses on the Northwest Tollway during peak commuting hours. One proposal calls for creating bus-only lanes on the tollway. The other would allow bus drivers to use the shoulder. A third option involves sending express buses down major arterial streets. The buses would be equipped with triggering devices under the front bumper that would give the Pace vehicles priority for green lights along the route.
Even if the Pace proposals aren’t approved, the bus agency should play a major role in a new transit line. Bury said creating efficient shuttle service between any new transit service in the northwest suburbs and final destinations is a key to successful new system.
“Suburban commuters aren’t going to use the system if they have to wait 10 to 15 minutes for a shuttle bus once they get off the train,” Bury said.
