Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller’s office announced on Monday infrastructure funding to improve Homewood train station.
on the east side of the tracks. (Provided image)
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller’s office announced the 2019 Invest in Cook funding for biking, pedestrian, roadway, freight and transit infrastructure projects in a statement Monday. That included 10 infrastructure improvements in Miller’s 6th district, including the Homewood train station.
“We are excited to start the renovations on our Metra Station, which is the second busiest on the Metra line,” Mayor Richard Hofeld said in the release.
“For too long our residents have had to deal with a station in need of a makeover. This funding award will make not only our current commuters happy but also be a welcoming site for visitors coming to take part in all the great things Homewood has to offer, from festivals to restaurants and shopping to the Homewood Science Center.
“We want to thank Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller and the Cook County Board for being responsive to our needs and making the funding available.”
Homewood’s train station project will receive $300,000 of the about $40 million distributed through the Invest in Cook program. Metra applied for that funding, Village Manager Jim Marino said.
That’s in addition to the funding from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning under the Surface Transportation Program Shared Fund Program. That’s expected to be announced Oct. 10 at the CMAP Board and the Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.
In August, the village asked residents to contact CMAP officials and encourage them to keep the original methodology for funding decisions. According to a statement, Homewood learned that the city of Chicago was asking CMAP to consider partially funding certain projects.
The STP Project Selection Committee and eligible municipalities previously agreed that all approved projects would be fully funded, according to the village’s statement. Changing that decision may have put the Homewood station’s funding in jeopardy.
In a Sept. 12 press release, the village said CMAP received 450 letters in support of the Homewood project.
The Homewood Train Station is not handicap accessible and water leaks in the pedestrian tunnel. The village is planning a full renovation that would include the Metra station as well as the adjoining Pace bus terminal and Amtrak station.
