Panel picks Metra location for Huntley

A committee of suburban transportation and planning officials have recommended Coyne Station Road as the site for a new Metra station in Huntley.

The undeveloped property - where Coyne Station meets the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in northwest Huntley - was chosen over another site under consideration at Kreutzer Road and the tracks.

The Huntley village board still has to sign off on the site, which could house an extension of the Milwaukee District West Line. The line starts in Chicago and ends in Elgin.

Huntley officials hope a Metra station will bring customers and employees to Huntley businesses, but a station could still be several years away.

The steering committee, which includes officials from the RTA as well as Kane and McHenry counties, did not recommend the Kreutzer site because of limited access to the site, limited land at the location and environmental concerns, according to the committee's report.

"The Coyne Station Road site has fewer obstacles and provides significant opportunities for a larger development that could function as a town center for the community," the report reads.

The exact location of the station on the Coyne Station site is still up in the air because of access issues and the need for a pedestrian crossing, according to the village.

The village's consultants, the Lakota Group and Civiltech Engineering, are drafting plans for the two potential sites.

The village board agreed Thursday to hold a public workshop with its consultants, the steering committee and interested residents to discuss the committee's recommendation.

"I'd just like to ask them why they didn't answer some of the questions that were raised," Trustee Harry Leopold said in reference to the steering committee's report.