Romeoville breaks ground on new Metra station
(May 16, 2017) -
Romeoville Mayor John Noak, U.S. Congressman Dan Lipinski, Will County Executive Larry Walsh and Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno officially broke ground today on the Romeoville Metra Station, a new stop along the Heritage Corridor Line.
“Getting a Metra stop has been a village goal for a long time, so we’re very excited to break ground today,” Noak said. “Having another transportation link to the city will be a great benefit for residents as well as businesses.”
Located near the intersection of 135th Street and New Avenue, the Romeoville Station will be the first new stop on the Heritage Corridor since Metra’s creation in 1984 and the first new stop on any Chicagoland Metra line since 2011. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of this year, giving Romeoville residents a direct connection to downtown Chicago just in time for the holiday season.
The Heritage Corridor Line runs between Joliet and Chicago Union Station.
“Once completed, this new station will mean more people in Romeoville and the surrounding area will be able to spend less of their valuable time each day driving on congested roads or traveling to less convenient Metra stations,” Lipinski said. “As the most senior member from Illinois on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and co-chair of the Congressional Public Transit Caucus, I would like to thank Mayor John Noak, the village of Romeoville, Will County Executive Larry Walsh and Metra for their hard work on this important project.”
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We first planned this METRA Train station in 1982 and then again in 1997. The 1982 plan was an effort by Will County and the Regional Transportation Authority of Northeast Illinois, while the 1997 effort was part of the Will County Transportation Plan. The need for the station was clear - there is a large distance from the existing stations in Lockport and Lemont. The commuter line did not have enough ridership and too little service, which the new station should help.
It takes a long time to get things done. Good thing we were not in a big hurry!
It takes a long time to get things done. Good thing we were not in a big hurry!
| METRA Timeline 1960's - Chicago commuter rail is deteriorating under individual railroad operation. Equipment and motive power is old. 1970's - Railoads want out of commuter business. 1974 - Chicago forms Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to run public transpotation needs. 1984 - The RTA's rail operations were reorganized into METRA (Northeast Illinois Railroad Corporation). and all commuter rail operations were handed over to Metra |
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