Metra to repair, replace bridges, build new station

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago's suburban commuter rail service will spend more than $48 million to replace or repair several bridges and rebuild a station on the city's North Side.

Metra says in a news release its board of directors approved three contracts with area construction companies - two for the bridge work and one for the station.

Some of the bridges will be replaced because they're more than a century old and it does not make economic sense to keep repairing them. Others will be repaired. A third contract will be to build a new inbound half of the Ravenswood Station.

The projects are part of Metra's 2017 construction program that includes $216 million in improvements to 29 stations, 21 bridges, 29 road crossings and the replacement of 57,000 railroad ties.