Aurora unveils new improvements at Route 59 train station

The nearly 6,000 commuters who use the Route 59 Metra train station each day now have a revised traffic pattern to exit and enter the facility, additional parking, and more safety features that will improve their experience.

City of Aurora officials were joined by regional and state transportation leaders, elected officials and planning executives this week to officially recognize the completion of the construction project that will benefit the commuters at the station and the immediate residential and business areas.

"I want to say thank you very much to everyone who has been involved in this project," Mayor Robert J. O'Connor said. "Without the kind of cooperation and interaction between lots of different entities this would not have taken place. It just reinforces what can be done, and that things can happen productively with people working together."

Improvements include:

• Reconfiguring the parking lot to a north-south orientation and increasing the parking lot's capacity by adding nearly 450 new parking spaces;

• The addition of three new driveways into the lot from Meridian Lake Drive;

• The installation of a traffic signal to improve traffic flow at the intersection of Meridian Lake Drive and Station Boulevard;

• Relocating the Pace Bus pulse point to a new safer staging area that pedestrians can access without crossing traffic;

• A new bridge over Waubonsie Creek;

• New safety features, including new parking lot lighting and security cameras.

"The entire commuter lot was reconfigured as a part of this project," said Aurora Director of Public Works Ken Schroth. He said the new north-south configuration adds parking spaces while reducing potential conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles, making the lot safer while increasing its capacity.

The Route 59 Metra Train Station has the highest ridership of any of the stations on Metra's BNSF rail line, with nearly 6,000 riders served each weekday. The station is situated in the Fox Valley Mall corridor that includes more than 1,400 housing units in the immediate area and one of the most successful business districts in the state.

"What we've accomplished is allowing a lot of commuters to live nicely with a good quality of life very close to the station they use and reducing air quality problems that arise when people commute long distances," said former Mayor Tom Weisner.

Supported by Federal funds through the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grant program, the project will help to improve air quality by making commuting easier and reducing time vehicles spend idling in congested parking lots.

"This is important," said Joseph Szabo, executive director of CMAP. "One of the goals we have in our long-range comprehensive plan for the region is to double transit ridership by the year 2040, and so improvements like this are critical to help make that happen. It's all part of our commitment to public transit by growing and improving our existing transit facilities. It's important not only to you in Aurora, but to all of us in the region."