Officials from Metra, the village of Homewood, Pace and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) celebrated the completion of the Homewood Metra station’s renovations with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the morning of Friday, Dec. 13.
The approximately $21-million renovation project, which was orchestrated by these collaborating agencies and Cook County, began in May 2023. A few of the renovations include digital signage showing the arrival time of upcoming trains, an ADA-accessible wheelchair ramp, new paint, new lighting, a renovated platform, windbreaks, a warming house and an adjacent Pace bus faculty.
The construction was inconvenient to and disruptive for commuters and other Metra riders. The east side entrance on Harwood Avenue was closed for the past 20 months and many Metra riders had to take longer walks to and from the west side entrance or use other area stations. For about a month in 2024, the entire station was out of service.
Officials gave proud speeches about the project’s long-awaited completion to dozens of others attending the ribbon-cutting. Many audience members drank coffee and ate donuts while sitting under a white tent near the station’s east side entrance.
“I’m so happy for the commuters.” Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld said. “I shuddered when I saw them walking under the viaduct, coming up on the other side in the wintertime when the ice was there. Our Public Works department had constructed stairs to make it a little bit easier, but I can’t wait to dismantle the stairs and say ‘come on into the new Metra station.’”
“The reopening of the Metra station in Homewood marks a great investment in public transportation to connect the South Suburbs to the greater Chicago area,” said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL 2nd). “The ADA accessibility improvements will ensure everyone can safely ride on trains and buses. When we invest in public transportation, we invest in our communities.”
“This is another way our transit agencies are working together in Chicagoland – and we’re going to continue to do that in the future,” Pace Chairman Rick Kwasneski said.
“It’s really come to fruition – some world-class transportation. And I’m proud to be a part of it,” RTA board member Liz Gorman said.
“Today’s celebration is just a part of our multi-year, multi-million-dollar plan for improvements along the Metra Electric line,” said Paul E. Ruffin, a Homewood resident and the vice chair for the Metra Board of Directors.
Ruffin said the Metra station at 147th Street and Sibley Boulevard in Harvey also recently completed its renovations and the 79th Street Metra station in Chicago will soon be reopened.
“Work on the 103rd Street station is now underway and about to start at the 87th Street station. And a little bit further in the future, we’ll be making improvements to several other Metra Electric stations, including Van Buren Street and the Harvey Transportation [Center],” Ruffin added.
“We have a pretty significant concentration now on renovating Metra Electric stations. Some of the last ADA inaccessible stations in our system are on this line,” Metra Director of Communications Michael Gillis said. “But we also have projects on other parts of the system.”
