Niles Metra Station Feasibility Study Nears Completion

NILES, IL — A feasibility study for a new Metra station along the Milwaukee District North Line in Niles is expected to be completed next month, village officials said. Conceptual plans for an additional station between Morton Grove and Edgebrook station located off Lehigh Avenue between Howard Street and Touhy Avenue were unveiled Wednesday at the Niles Senior Center, Pioneer Press reported.

Once the study is completed, the village board may formally request the station from Metra and the Regional Transport Admistration. Niles Mayor Andrew Przbylo has indicated his support for a new station. Some residents expressed concerns about increased traffic or gates spending more time blocking cars, according to the Niles Herald-Spectator. Village officials requested the consultants preparing the study to make sure a train stopped at the potential station would not result in the closing of the gates across Touhy Avenue.

Conceptual plans call for a 550 parking spaces, a pedestrian walkway underneath the tracks and other improvements, according to the Niles Herald-Spectator.

The price tag on the entire project would come in around $30 million, Pioneer Press reported. The study predicts more than $2 million in additional revenue from fares if the station is built. The village would also receive income from parking and any retail activity at the station.

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