'Uncertainty' With Planned Elmhurst Train Station

ELMHURST, IL – For the second meeting since May, Elmhurst officials signaled doubt that the city would build a new Metra train station. It is a project that has seen delays and dramatic cost hikes.

The issue came up this week during a City Council discussion about a new downtown plan.

Alderman Guido Nardini said it was uncertain whether the train station would become a reality.

"If it is an uncertainty, which it is right now, that is a complexity that the downtown plan needs to have contingencies for," Nardini said.

Alderman Mike Brennan twice said he supported a new train station, but he still had questions.

"Does the train station we have today suffice?" he asked. "I'm a proponent for a new train station, but I'm curious if we're negatively impacted if we do nothing."

At a meeting last month, Mayor Scott Levin said the police station was a higher priority for him than the train station. The train station project, he said, depended on the dollar amount of outside grants.

The project's costs have nearly doubled to $44 million over the last four years. And it continually gets delayed.

Late last year, the city said it may go out to bid in June. Last month, a city spokeswoman said the plan now was to seek bids in December.

In mid-2020, Officials estimated the station's costs at $25 million.

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.

Projections show that the station's weekday boarding will increase by a quarter by 2038.

The city has several partners in the project – the Department of Transportation, Metra, Union Pacific and the Pace bus agency.