Southwest Service Improvements and Extension

The proposal is to upgrade infrastructure and service levels and to provide an extension of service within rapidly-growing Will County to Midewin (former Joliet Arsenal site). The proposal includes constructing a 2-mile segment beginning west of Belt Junction (Belt Railway of Chicago, BRC) near 75th/Loomis, with a combination of bridges and embankment, crossing above Norfolk Southern (NS) tracks south of 74th St, ending near 75th/Normal where the SouthWest Service (SWS) will access the RID tracks. This installation of two rail-to-rail grade separations to carry the SWS above the BRC and NS tracks will provide improved reliability and fewer operating conflicts. Rerouting the SouthWest service into Chicago’s LaSalle Street Station will relieve congested operations at Union Station. The 5.8 mile extension of the SouthWest Service to Midewin will provide commuter rail service to the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Lincoln National Cemetery, and the Centerpoint Intermodal Center, as well as provide a terminal closer to rapidly growing Elwood and Wilmington. The extension will use primarily former Joliet Arsenal right-of-way by connecting at Manhattan.

Please note that several of the evaluation measures below were recalculated using different methods, due to problems in the evaluation process. Therefore comparison of this project’s results to others should be done with caution.

Project information

Cost: (2009 $) $186,000,000 for 75th Street segment; $32,000,000 for extension from Manhattan to Midewin; and, $261,000,000 for improvements enabling full service level.

Connectivity: Service level improvements and extension of service will enhance transfer opportunities between the Southwest Service lines and other lines – Rock Island District and Southeast Service - that will share the former Rock Island (east of the Dan Ryan Expressway) tracks, 35th Street and LaSalle Street stations. There will also be enhanced access to CTA services such as the Green Line, Orange Line, Brown Line, and Purple Line (LaSalle Street at Van Buren Street).

Safety and Security: The proposal enhances safety by separating commuter train from freight train movements. The proposal enhances security by providing an additional means of travel for nearby parallel expressway corridors (I-55, I-57) and major arterials in the event of a long duration major incident.

Bicycle and pedestrian accommodations: the stations on the line are expected to be equipped with additional bicycle parking facilities and integrated with communities’existing bicycle and pedestrian trial systems.

Consistency with subregional plans: the project is recommended in the Will County 2030 Recommended Transportation Plan portion of the Will County Land Use Plan.

742

Project Status

This project has not undergone Alternatives Analysis or any Phase I engineering component of the federal planning process. This project has a multi-step completion time frame: year 2020 for the 75th Street segment, and year 2040 for both the Manhattan to Midewin extension and improvements enabling full service.

Was this content helpful?

Average 0 out of 5

Comments:

Report abuse

Name: