DeKALB, Ill. — The DeKalb City Council has authorized a state grant to pay for a new study on extending Metra service to the city, Shaw News reports.
The $400,000 technical assistance grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation will build on an earlier feasibility study completed in 2023 that addressed financial benefits and potential ridership for an extension of Metra’s UP West line from its current western endpoint of Elburn, Ill., about 18 miles from DeKalb. Among other findings, that study said annual ridership on a bus route from DeKalb to the Elburn station was 3,163 in 2019; it was 14,179 in 2023.
City Manager Bill Nicklas told the news site that the new study would begin looking at the UP line between DeKalb and Elburn to determine the prospects of building a third track next to the existing two-track main line, which the city believes would be expected by UP and Metra. The UP West line is currently three tracks from Elburn to Chicago, save for a short segment near Geneva, Ill., that is undergoing the addition of a third main. Specifically, the grant will fund a “planning and environmental linkages” study to address potential environmental, economic, and community impacts of extending Metra service. The study would be a prelude to pursuing federal funding.
Council approval means the city can now issue a request for proposals for firms interested in conducting the study.
Another “institutional” question no doubt to be addressed in the consultant’s study is the question of Dekalb being out the four-county (Chicago metro-area) RTA taxing district? Would the Dekalb area have to vote to join the RTA taxing district in order for METRA to serve a city outside of its service (RTA-tax) area?
Metra is currently in discussions with Kendall County about what would be involved if they don’t join the taxing district. Basically the county would have to pay an annual amount.
I assume if DeKalb County does the same, it would be no different.
A lot of questions to get answered here.
– Will there be any intermediate stations like Maple Park and Cortland?
– Will DeKalb get 2 stations, downtown and NIU (which is west of downtown)
– Will new overpasses be required as almost all the crossings are at ground level
– The Annie Glidden Road overpass only supports 2 tracks (if they extend to NIU)
It will be interesting in what they find in the study.
DeKalb has been losing people again after 20 straight years of growth. They have logistics and students, but they also are home to a major Meta (Facebook) datacenter complex. Sycamore on the other hand, just north of DeKalb have doubled in population in the last 30 years.
Illinois & the Feds are funding extensions to Rockford, which is also losing population, but that is a much bigger metro than DeKalb.
If the ratio is still 90% of NIU students coming from Chicago and the suburbs, you can use the study money for trackage and depot improvements and just build it.