- Credibility:
RAVENSWOOD — The Ravenswood Metra overhaul that began more than a decade ago won’t be complete until July, Metra officials said.
The eastern, or inbound, platform of the station at 4800 N. Ravenswood Ave. was originally slated to open by late winter or early spring, but delays in the shipment of building materials and other issues have come up, Metra spokesman Noe Gallardo said.
Crews are waiting on the delivery of structural tiles, and need to redesign the guardrail fencing at Leland Bridge, repair hairline cracks in the platform and do some asphalt repair, Gallardo said. Asphalt plants reopen in May.
Additionally, crews will be waterproofing along the platform and the bridge at Lawrence and Leland, which will require the removal of track and ballast by Union Pacific Railroad, he said. That has yet to be scheduled.
Ballast work could not be performed during winter months when ground is frozen.
One the renovation is complete, commuters will have access to longer and covered platforms, warming shelters, new lights, space for a ticket office, vendor space, stairs and ADA-compliant ramps.
“With a project of this magnitude … its impact on the community was [and] is unavoidable and cannot be understated,” Gallardo said. “Metra is making every attempt possible to improve the dates on the remaining items and complete the work, as soon as possible.”
The upgrades are part of a $30 million project to renovate bridges along Metra’s Union Pacific North line, which was announced in 2010. Construction on the western platform wrapped in 2015.
Previous delays to the project were caused in part by a polar vortex in 2014 and cuts in funding to Metra in 2010.
The work was fully funded in 2020, and officials planned to begin the final phase of the eastern portion of the station last spring, but supply chain issues delayed that work.
Listen to “It’s All Good: A Block Club Chicago Podcast”:
