Hey, remember how Metra’s Ravenswood station was only 1/2 finished? Officials announce 30 months of construction ahead to complete the job
RAVENSWOOD — Nearly three years after Metra opened its outbound Ravenswood station, the transit agency unveiled its 30-month construction plan for the station’s inbound track.
Metra originally announced improvements to the Ravenswood station and UP-North bridges in 2010. At the time, officials gave an anticipated completion date of 2018 for work on both sides of the track.
Construction for the inbound track and platform is now expected to run at least through the end of 2020.
At the first of two public forums hosted Tuesday by Ald. Ameya Pawar’s (47th) office, Joe Ott, Metra’s director of construction, told residents and business owners the delay between phases was due to ensuring that the engineering was in place and waiting for federal funds before the agency could send Phase II out to bid.
Like the outbound station on the west side of the tracks at Lawrence Avenue, the inbound station and platform will have shelters, improved lighting, benches, on-demand heaters and accessible ramps, Ott said.
The Ravenswood project will also include the replacement of 11 bridges on the east side of the Union Pacific North Line between Grace and Balmoral, replicating work completed in 2015 on the track’s west side.
An unused rail “bay,” out of commission since the 1970s, will also be removed. New track, matching the one laid on the outbound side, will be installed, completing the conversion of this former three-track stretch to two tracks.
Work on the inbound station is expected to begin as early as February, according to Chris D’Amico, project manager with IHC Construction, which won the bid for construction contract.
Ott said there would be no disruption to Metra’s train schedule during construction. A section of parking on Ravenswood Avenue, between Lawrence and Leland avenues, will be cordoned off during much of the work, but the flow of traffic will largely be maintained, D’Amico said.
Judlau Contracting is handling the replacement of the bridges, which date back to the 1890s and have reached the end of their useful life.
Complete story at Chicago Sun-Times.
Photos below show newly built station, bridges, track and embankment on west side, compared with existing conditions on east side. Photos: Patty Wetli; renderings: Metra.
