Transit Briefs: Metra, NJT

Metra, Union Pacific, state, and local officials cut the ribbon to officially open the new Peterson/Ridge Station in Chicago. (Metra Photograph)

Metra launches its long-awaited commuter rail station in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Also, New Jersey Transit (NJT) advances its Brick Church Station modernization and Brielle Drawbridge replacement projects.

Metra

Metra on June 11 held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the Peterson/Ridge Station on the UP (Union Pacific) North Line in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. The infill station, which began serving riders May 20, had been planned for more than a decade and delayed due to state funding and permitting problems, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Station construction, which cost $27.8 million, included two six-car platforms; heated concrete stairs and ADA-compliant ramps; a glass and masonry warming house with side canopies and metal roof; two shelters with on-demand heating; an access drive with a cul-de-sac turnaround and ADA pick-up/drop-off; five ADA parking spaces and 44 parking spaces along Ravenswood Avenue; bicycle parking; and a plaza with associated landscaping that includes native perennial plants exclusively and an irrigation system. John Burns Construction of Westmont, Ill., was the contractor.

The work was funded in part by a $15 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, a component of Rebuild Illinois, the state’s historic capital plan. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding covered the remaining construction costs.

“We are pleased that this station is already serving as a gateway to the Metra system and to the beautiful Edgewater community,” said Jim Derwinski, Executive Director/CEO of Metra, which marks its 40th anniversary this year. “It was a long time coming, but we hope you agree that it was worth the wait.”

“As more people continue to take Metra, the new Peterson/Ridge Station will make commutes easier and more efficient,” FTA Regional Administrator Kelley Brookins said. “FTA was happy to support this new station so Metra can increase the number of trains and improve train connections for Chicagoland commuters.”

Originally, the Chicago & North Western served the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, but in 1958 closed numerous stations on the Milwaukee Division to speed service, according to the Edgewater Historical Society.

NJT

The NJT Board of Directors has committed to updating the historic Brick Church commuter rail station in East Orange, N.J., and to replacing the single-track Brielle, N.J., drawbridge built in 1911.

The transit agency on June 11 reported that the Board awarded a $3,122,603.89 contract (with a 5% contingency) to John O’Hara Company Inc. of East Orange for work at Brick Church Station, including the restoration of the building’s interior walls, doors, and ceiling, and installation of an historic plaque, as well as electrical work, restroom alterations for ADA compliance, heating equipment, painting, telecommunications, and security upgrades.

The contract follows FTA’s $83.1 million grant announcement last month for a separate project to replace the Brick Church Station’s current low-level platforms with accessible high-level platforms and to add elevators, according to NJT.  Other improvements include restoring the historic benches and terrazzo floor as well as the historic windows, and providing an art installation.

Rail service through East Orange began in 1836 with the Morris & Essex Railroad. Matthias Ogden Halsted, a local lawyer and commuter, provided a station, according to NJT, which reported that a new depot was built in 1880 and used until the current station opened Dec. 18, 1921, after the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western elevated the tracks. The station is named for the nearby Temple of Unified Christians Brick Church, which was designed with brick architecture. The brick headhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

“This project underscores our commitment to preserving the historical essence of our Brick Church Station, while equipping it with modern amenities to better serve our community,” NJT President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett said. “These improvements—combined with significant accessibility enhancements coming soon through the FTA’s generous All Stations Accessibility Program grant—will improve the daily commutes of countless residents, enhancing their quality of life and boosting the local economy in East Orange and beyond.”

Also on June 11, the NJT Board approved a contract to initiate the conceptual and preliminary design phases of the Brielle Drawbridge Replacement Project. The existing single-track movable bridge, which is more than a century old, will be replaced with a new two-track movable bridge that the transit agency said would “improve flood resiliency and maritime operations” and speed service. Linking the towns of Brielle and Point Pleasant Beach on NJT’s North Jersey Coast Line, the bridge is 1,162 feet long from abutment to abutment and currently carries a single non‐electrified track and a maintenance walkway. It sits in between sections of the commuter railroad that offer two tracks; this causes a bottle neck, according to NJT, which noted that train speed over the bridge is restricted to 20 mph for passenger rail and 10 mph for freight rail.

Hardesty & Hanover, LLC of New York, N.Y., was awarded the contract to provide conceptual and preliminary design and engineering services as part of Phase I of the project, at a cost not to exceed $7,708,478.47 (plus 5% for contingencies), subject to the availability of funds, NJT reported.

Phase I is projected to be completed by first-quarter 2027. The entire construction project is projected to be completed in third-quarter 2031.

“When we talk about the aging infrastructure we inherited across our rail network, the Brielle Drawbridge, a critical link along our North Jersey Coast Line, is near the top of that list at 113 years old,” Kevin Corbett said. “This replacement project will add capacity and resiliency for generations of rail customers to come.”

Separately, NJT and Amtrak’s Portal North Bridge project on the Northeast Corridor reached 50% completion last month, and NJT workers represented by TWU of America Local 2001 recently voted to ratify a new three-year contract that includes pay raises and additional time off.