Public Invited To December Meetings On Possible Metra Extension

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — Two open house meetings regarding the potential extension of Metra BNSF commuter rail service into Kendall County are planned for the first week in December. The first meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Plano Community Library District, 15 W. North St., Plano; the second will be held on at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Oswego Village Hall at 100 Parkers Mill. Both meetings are expected to last about three hours and will be formatted identically; all members of the public are invited to attend.

According to a news release sent out by the Kendall Extension Study team, which is hosting the meetings, the potential BNSF extension could see new commuter stations built in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano and Sandwich. Currently, the BNSF commuter line ends in Aurora. Several new train yards might also be built throughout Kendall County to accommodate the growth.

According to Metra Communications Director Michael Gillis, the study is being overseen by Metra, but utilizes federal funding earmarked by Kendall County stakeholders specifically for this project. It is expected to conclude in the summer of 2020. Besides investigating locations for the new yards and stations, project staff are also conducting an ongoing analysis of the potential extension's environmental impacts, effects on ridership and local funding requirements.

The point of the meetings, the release said, was both to inform the public about the study's current findings - including new station site options - and to include them in the study's progress going forward. As such, the meetings will feature no formal presentation. Instead, the open house format is designed to allow attendees to visit exhibits and speak with project staff directly about their questions and concerns. In turn, project staff will use the meetings as an opportunity to learn about the local public's transportation use and its general attitude regarding the potential extension.

For more information, including a map of proposed station sites, please visit the Kendall Extension Study website.