Council skeptical of Metra proposal

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CRYSTAL LAKE – The City Council hasn’t been sold on plans for a new Metra station in Crystal Lake.

Council members looked at Metra official’s proposal for a station in Ridgefield at a meeting Tuesday night. All seven expressed concerns about traffic in and around the site.

“The traffic just doesn’t work for me,” Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller said. “I don’t know how you make it successful.”

In August, the Metra Board of Directors voted to approve a tentative $1.53 million deal to buy a 17.5-acre site for a new stop along the Union Pacific Northwest Line in unincorporated Ridgefield on Country Club Road at Prairie Drive.

The Ridgefield station is projected to generate 500 trips each morning and each afternoon during peak hours with most of the traffic coming from the northwest, said Kevin Harder, an engineer with SEC Group, Inc. In his presentation, Harder said six intersections in particular around the proposed station would be studied further.

Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley referred to traffic concerns as “a make it or break it” issue for the city.

“From a traffic standpoint, I think you have your work cut out for you,” he said. “If you can’t surmount that, you won’t get approval from this body.”

Councilwoman Cathy Ferguson said the additional traffic “would change the whole tone and tenor of the area.”

Several neighbors of the project and other residents also spoke out about traffic and safety issues regarding the proposed site.

Some on the council also questioned the need for and benefits of having a third Metra station in Crystal Lake.

“Why annex to Crystal Lake? What’s the advantage for us?” said Councilman Ralph Dawson. “There is nothing here that I see that will let me support this.”

The land for the proposed site, on Country Club Road at Prairie Drive, is owned by a trust that is half owned by County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake. It is just west of land that Koehler sold in 2006 for what used to be 84 Lumber. Conditions on the deal include having the funding in place to build a station and reaching agreements with the city of Crystal Lake to annex and maintain the property.

The project is one of several improvements to the Union Pacific Northwest Line planned under Metra’s New Starts program. Sixty percent of the funding would be federal, with state and local governments making up the remaining 40 percent.

The $507 million Northwest Line project will add two new coach yard facilities in Woodstock and Johnsburg to allow for more train capacity and expanded service. The project also includes three new stations to serve Prairie Grove, Ridgefield, and Johnsburg. To serve facilities in Johnsburg, the McHenry branch of the Northwest Line will be extended 1.6 miles.

Upgrades are planned on the signal system to increase service, reduce travel times, and allow more operational flexibility. Further station and parking improvements are anticipated to accommodate increased ridership.

Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said the City Council’s concerns had been anticipated and would be addressed.

“We need a more formal traffic study, but I think we are on the right track,” he said after the meeting.

The City Council also turned down Metra’s request to have SEC Group, which has already been contracted by Metra, perform a traffic study. Councilmembers said they wanted their own consultant in accordance with city policy.

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