Schaumburg carries on with plans for STAR Line
Schaumburg officials Tuesday were unfazed by new threats to the proposed STAR Line's already decade-long timeframe as they approved a redevelopment plan for the area around the village's own future rail station.
Metra, which would operate the train route connecting O'Hare International Airport with suburbs to the west and south, is struggling with its present-day finances and lobbying state lawmakers for help.
Routine maintenance and improvements already are being put on hold as Metra comes to grips with a more than $60 million operating deficit.
Metra has joined Pace and the CTA in asking legislators for a sales tax hike to keep the public transportation system alive. Without such help, Metra Director Phil Pagano said planning for such far-off projects as the STAR Line needs to be even further delayed.
Furthermore, political infighting among Chicago Democrats is holding up state legislation to fund Metra and bring in construction money for the STAR Line.
But Schaumburg officials said the type of planning they're doing wouldn't be threatened by any changes to the STAR Line's exact timeframe -- even it had one.
Schaumburg has planned for an influx of restaurants, stores, condos and entertainment in the area where its STAR Line station would be -- between the village's new convention center and IKEA in the middle of the Northwest Tollway.
"That transit-oriented development has as much to do with the location of the convention center as it does the STAR Line -- or even more so," Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said.
He added that the village's plans also are designed to complement redevelopment in the adjoining part of Rolling Meadows.
Despite the nine months of work that went into its redevelopment plan, Schaumburg is taking no financial risks on the STAR Line. But village officials do recognize the opportunities the rail line would bring and are planning ahead for them.
The planned redevelopment seeks to bring in the types of businesses and condos that are attractive to commuters -- just as the downtowns of Arlington Heights and Palatine already do.