Glen Ellyn conducts survey on future of Metra station
Glen Ellyn commuters: Next time you wait for a train at the downtown Metra station, take a good look around the building and think about what you would like to see.
Larger bathrooms? Retail space? More lighting? A new station?
Commuters and others can share their views on the subject in an online survey being conducted by the public works department. The village is collecting feedback as engineers work on a yearlong study that will produce "high-level" designs for replacing or remodeling the station.
The anonymous survey results will help officials get a sense of what improvements are favored by residents. The input also could help settle a long-running debate about whether commuters should bypass the train tracks via a pedestrian bridge or a tunnel downtown.
The preliminary engineering study by CDM Smith will estimate costs for both structures. Either crossing - under or over the tracks - could tie into a larger possible project to ease congestion and reconfigure parking.
In March, the village board hired CDM to complete the review at a cost of up to $232,375. The Chicago firm also has designed a new Elmhurst Metra station with a clock tower as a focal point.
The Glen Ellyn study could take a year to 15 months. CDM's architectural consultants will prepare conceptual plans for a bridge, tunnel, renovation of the train station, a new building and other alternatives, creating a "menu" of options for the village.
The firm also will help compile applications for grants that could fund a significant portion, if not most, of construction costs.
The single-story, 2,500-square-foot station, just south of Crescent Boulevard and Forest Avenue, was designed in the 1960s. But most of the commuter parking is south of the station.
Pedestrians have to walk several hundred feet west to Main Street or east to Park Boulevard where there are grade-level crossings over the Union Pacific tracks, CDM noted in its proposal to the village.
The online survey asks users to rate the importance of options to improve accessibility. Those include the underpass or overpass, protected bike routes, additional parking and a dedicated bus lane for PACE bus riders.
The survey is available on the village's website, Glenellyn.org, through Aug. 4.