Mokena Board Votes To Raise Metra Parking Rates

MOKENA, IL — Metra riders who commute in Mokena can expect daily parking prices to go up after the Mokena Village Board of Trustees voted 5-0 during Monday's meeting to raise the Village's rates. Trustee Jim Richmond was absent from the meeting.

Effective Jan. 1, daily parking at the Front Street, Hickory Creek, Village Hall and Willowcrest Metra commuter lots will cost $2, up 75 cents from the current rate of $1.25.

Village Assistant Administrator Kirk Zoellner told the board that the rate increase is necessary because of diminishing funds in the Village's Parking Lot Fund. Those funds are used for the maintenance and general upkeep of those parking lots, and decreased ridership since the start of the pandemic in 2020 has resulted in a gap between expenses and revenues associated with the lots, Zoellner explained.

The Village has not raised parking rates since 2011, according to Zoellner. In determining whether to raise the rates, the Village surveyed other nearby town and found those towns were also raising its Metra commuter parking rates, Zoellner said.

"Really what we're looking at here is trying to get ourselves up to speed with our neighboring communities," Zoellner said.

The expected increase in revenue from the new parking rates will be needed to complete upcoming maintenance, including repaving the eastern half of the Hickory Creek in fiscal year 2023 at an estimated cost of $425,000, according to Zoellner. The western half of the lot will need to be repaved in fiscal year 2024.

The Front Street lot will need to be repaved in two to three years at an estimated cost of $75,000, Zoellner said.

There are four Metra commuter lots in Mokena totaling 1,458 parking spaces: Hickory Creek (1,114 spaces), Front Street (185 spaces), Willowcrest (101 spaces) and Village Hall (58 spaces), according to information Zoellner presented to the board.