Elmhurst Metra Station Project Delayed Again

ELMHURST, IL – Don't expect a new Metra train station in Elmhurst anytime soon. The project keeps getting pushed back.

A year ago, officials said they hoped to receive bids this past June. That didn't happen.

On Monday, the city unveiled its proposed capital budget for the next year.

The document indicates the city would complete the second phase of engineering for a new station by December.

The third phase of engineering and construction would take place in 2027 and 2028, according to the document.

Over the last six years, the project's estimated cost has nearly doubled to $47.4 million, from $25 million.

Officials said the estimate has been at $47.4 million for the last couple of years.

Alderman Dan Virgil asked whether it was time to re-evaluate the estimate, given it's been two years.

The city's interim manager, Kent Johnson, said the number in the budget is the "best estimate at this point."

Added Finance Director Christina Coyle, "As far as pricing for the Metra station, the next step in the process is really for the project to go out to bid and see what those bids come back at."

The project's cost estimate would now be at $50.3 million if it had gone up with the inflation rate.

Grants from the federal government and other entities are expected to cover three-fourths of the costs.

The city has said it would go into debt and pay back the money from a downtown tax increment financing district, or TIF.

The station project is expected to include warming shelters, a pedestrian tunnel, a platform reconstruction and surface parking improvements.

The current station, which is considered undersized for its ridership, is the fourth busiest in the Metra system. It was built in the 1960s and updated in the 1980s.

Over the years, the mayor and aldermen have questioned whether the project would happen.

"Where would we kill the train station to put it nicely?" Alderman Rex Irby asked during a budget discussion last year.

A similar discussion was held in 2024.