Metra Moving Forward with Study to Explore Possible Oswego Rail Stop

The Metra board has approved the bids for the Phase I engineering study for a possible commuter rail stop in Oswego.

According to an email sent by Interim Village Administrator Dwight Baird to Oswego trustees, the environmental portion of the study has been awarded in the amount of $350,000 to HDR, a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm with offices in Chicago. The engineering portion of the study was awarded to Chicago engineering firm Bowman and Barrett and Associates in the amount of $1.4 million. The first part of the study is set to start soon, Baird said.

“It’s coming along, and I’m glad it’s finally moving forward,” Village President Brian LeClercq said.

An Oswego commuter station has been a topic of discussion for many years. Proposed to be located near Orchard and Mill roads, it could be another 10 to 15 years away and likely will cost more than $120 million.

The Metra vote also revealed a possible plan for an intermediate stop in Montgomery.

Montgomery Village President Marilyn Michelini said she was aware Metra had been considering a station in Montgomery. The village has identified the north end of the Lyon Metal Works property on River Street as a possible location for both a park-and-ride facility and a Metra stop, and Michelini said village leaders have been in talks with Lyon Metal to make it a reality.

Michelini said she has been supportive of the Metra station in Oswego partially because it “stands to reason” that Metra tracks would have to pass through Montgomery to get there. The Kane County portion of Montgomery is already a member of the Regional Transportation Authority, a fact that Michelini believes makes the village an attractive option for Metra. Kendall County is not a member of the RTA, and a referendum vote with a sales tax increase attached would need to be approved by voters.

But, she said, it will likely take years to raise the amount of money necessary to even begin construction of the project. It’s become harder to obtain grants, she said, and she anticipates a long wait before anything actually happens.

In the meantime, Oswego is still moving forward with a second rail option—to become a stop on Amtrak’s Chicago-Quad Cities line. When LeClercq and 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren last spoke about this project in November, they pitched it as a cheaper and faster way to bring rail traffic to Kendall County.