WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Support is building for a Canadian National double-track project in Northern Illinois, with the Lake County Board joining Metra and three communities in endorsing the plan.
The Daily Herald reports the proposal to add 2.2 miles of second track between Round Lake Beach and Grayslake, on a CN line shared with Metra’s North Central Service, is in CN’s 10-year plan but could happen sooner with community support.
The communities of Antoich, Round Lake Beach, and Grayslake have previously indicated their support for the project. In Graylake, slow or stopped trains have been an issue at the village’s five grade crossings.
In a letter to the county board, Metra CEO Jim Derwinski said the commuter rail operator “strongly supports” the double-track project, which would decrease issues with freight-train interference, increase operational fluidity, and lessen delays at grade crossings. Infrastructure limitations have prevented Metra from exploring increased reverse-commute service — which Metra has been instituting on other lines — and the project is “a necessary step” toward possible service expansion.
CN previously experienced community opposition to another double-track project near Elgin, Ill. [see “CN’s plan to double-track former EJ&E …,” Trains News Wire, May 31, 2019]. That 4-mile addition eventually won federal approval [see “CN gets approval for double-tracking …,” News Wire, July 1, 2020].
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