Metra Union Pacific North Line Rebuild Gets $117 Million 'Mega' Grant

CHICAGO — A project to improve service on Metra's Union Pacific-North line was awarded a $117 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the largest single grant in the history of the commuter railroad.

The rebuilding plan includes the replacement of 11 bridges, 4 miles of track structure, more than one and three-quarter miles of retaining wall along a two-mile corridor between the Addison and Fullerton rail bridges on Chicago's North Side.

Over the next 30 years, Metra officials estimate the project will reduce passenger delays by 38 million hours and could avoid nearly 350 crashes and any resulting damage, injuries or death, according to a Transportation Department fact sheet.

“For many Illinoisans, Metra is the only accessible transportation option they have. This makes it all the more critical that we continue working to improve the overall passenger rail experience," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said last month in a statement announcing the grant award.

"Thanks to this federal investment, the Metra Union Pacific-North line will be able to make much-needed updates to enhance their overall safety and reliability,” he said.

The project replaces the line's oldest bridges and retaining walls, which will include sacrificial beams and attenuators to them more resilient when drivers crash into them.

Each of the replaced bridges will also include a walkway, street repaving, underpass lighting and pedestrian curb improvements.

Metra CEO James Derwinsky said some of the bridges slated to be replaced are more than 100 years old.

“This grant award is a tremendous win for Metra commuters and our region,” Metra CEO James Derwinski said in a statement. The "unprecedented" $117 million bridge investment, he said, "provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance safety, reliability, and the state of good repair of our system."

The federal funding comes from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance Discretionary Grant program, also known as the Mega program, which allocates funding to large, difficult to fund projects that are likely to provide major benefits, according to the Transportation Department.

The Mega program is funded as part of the $550 billion in new spending included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The UP-N rebuild is one of nine projects to receive $1.2 billion in total Mega grants so far. The program is due to invest another $3.8 billion through 2026.

According to the White House, highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail and public transportation projects are all eligible for the funding.

Separately, Metra received a $400,000 Cook County grant to defer the cost of the engineering and design of the Rogers Park station on the UP-N line.