SR1172 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1172 LRB098 21129 GRL 58960 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Metra's Western Avenue Crossing, known as A-2, located 2 miles west of the Loop at Western Avenue and Kinzie Street, is where Union Pacific-owned tracks from the Ogilvie Transportation Center headed west cross over Metra-owned tracks from Union Station headed northwest; and

WHEREAS, A-2 impacts 7 of Metra's 11 routes, as the Union Pacific West, the Milwaukee District West, the Milwaukee North, and North Central travel over A-2, while the empty trains for the Union Pacific North, Union Pacific Northwest, Southwest Service, and Heritage Corridor trains need to travel over A-2 to access their maintenance shops for service; and

WHEREAS, 350 trains cross paths at A-2 every day and rely on A-2 working smoothly for on-time performance; and

WHEREAS, A-2 was designed and built in the 1930s with interlocking switching equipment powered by air compression for the 3,000 switches which are now functionally obsolete; and

WHEREAS, Cold weather is particularly damaging to the functionality of the A-2 air compression switching system, as the switches freeze and ice falls from trains and locks switches in place, halting the ability of trains to move through the crossing; and

WHEREAS, Many of Metra's winter weather delays this year are attributable to A-2; and

WHEREAS, A-2 is like 2 interstate highways meeting at a stoplight, as trains headed in one direction must wait for trains to pass through headed in the other direction, which is inherently inefficient; and

WHEREAS, The best way to solve the A-2 crossing problem is a flyover bridge to permanently separate the tracks, similar to the Chicago Transit Authority's plan recently released to build a flyover bridge permanently separating the Brown Line tracks from the Red and Purple Line tracks north of Belmont; and

WHEREAS, Other options include updating the 1930s era switching equipment to modern standards or moving the crossing a mile east; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the A-2 crossing as a major bottleneck for passenger rail service, both for Metra and for Amtrak; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we show our support for federal, State, and any private investments to eliminate the delays in the A-2 crossing and provide better Metra and Amtrak service for the residents of Illinois.