- Credibility:
EDGEWATER — Edgewater’s long-anticipated Metra station is drawing closer to completion, but Ridge Avenue must first shut down so workers can finish repairs on a nearby bridge.
Ridge Avenue will close to car traffic near the existing Metra tracks at Ravenswood Avenue next month while crews work on the Ridge Avenue bridge. The street should close in June and will likely stay closed for two months, Metra spokesperson Meg Reile said.
Ridge Avenue will be closed to through traffic north of Peterson Avenue to Ravenswood Avenue immediately west of the tracks, project officials said at a community meeting in late April.
The road closure is needed as crews continue work on the Peterson Ridge Metra station, which is being added to the Union Pacific North commuter rail line.
As part of the project, contractor John Burns Construction Company must repair and reinforce the overpasses in the area, project managers with the company said at the meeting hosted by Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th).
That includes replacing deteriorated steel structures and concrete walls on the Ridge Avenue bridge, the contractor said. The work necessitates closing Ridge Avenue, they said.
Credit: Screengrab via 40th Ward Community MeetingCrews originally said at the meeting the street would close in late May. That has been pushed back to June as the Chicago Department of Transportation asked Metra to finish work on nearby Ravenswood Avenue before shutting down Ridge Avenue, Reile said. Northbound lanes of Ravenswood Avenue are closed near Peterson Avenue due to work on the train station.
Specific dates for the bridge work and road closure have yet to be finalized, Reile said.
The Ridge Avenue closure will include a detour that routes traffic north on Clark Street, west on Granville Avenue, south on Ravenswood Avenue and east on Peterson Avenue.
Residents of Ravenswood Avenue, Hermitage Avenue and Paulina Street will still have access to their blocks despite the detour, project officials said.
Work on the station is slated to wrap up this fall, when the long-awaited station will open to the public, project managers said at the community meeting.
Its opening will end a decade-long effort to bring a Metra station to Edgewater.
Credit: providedAnnounced in 2012, the Peterson-Ridge station has been the victim of the state’s years-long budget impasse and then permitting issues with the city.
After finally securing funding in 2019, the project’s groundbreaking was pushed back to spring 2021. The project was stalled once again when the Department of Water Management rejected Metra’s plans for environmentally friendly permeable pavers, saying such plans could jeopardize water main pipes below the site.
The groundwater plan was altered and the station project broke ground in November 2021.
The $15 million station is being built on the northeast corner of Peterson and Ravenswood avenues and will include on-site parking, a drop-off cul-de-sac and covered waiting areas.
The station will be as long as six train cars. Its Downtown-bound platform will have a warming shelter, including an enclosed waiting area and an additional warming station. The northbound platform will have a warming station, as well, Metro officials previously said.
The rail bridge spanning Peterson Avenue was upgraded last fall.
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