CHICAGO — A longstanding effort to extend Metra’s BNSF line service beyond Aurora, Ill., west to Kendall County took a step forward last week as Metra’s board of directors approved a $4.7 million engineering study to address capital and operating costs.
The study, to be paid for from previously earmarked federal funds, will consider possible terminals in Yorkville, Plano, or Sandwich, as well as additional stations in Oswego and Montgomery, the Daily Herald reports. Oswego has already purchased land for a station and parking lot.
The study will allow supporters of the expansion to know “how much funding they will need to secure to make it happen,” Metra spokesman Michael Gillis told the paper.
Funding for the actual construction and operation faces significant barriers. Kendall County is not part of the six-county Regional Transportation Authority, Metra’s parent agency; existing Metra service is funded in part by sales taxes collected in those counties. So Kendall County would have to find a source to fund the construction and its portion of the service.
