Route 31 underpass in Geneva to reopen Aug. 16, Third Street crossing to close Aug. 19

The Route 31 underpass in Geneva is scheduled to reopen to traffic Friday, Aug. 16, after being shut down since March while Union Pacific performed construction work as part of its Third Main Line project.

Once the underpass reopens, the rail company will shift its construction operations west to Third Street beginning Monday, Aug. 19.

The railroad crossing at Third Street is expected to be closed for six weeks barring weather or construction delays.

While the Third Street crossing is closed, northbound traffic will be detoured to Route 31 north and then to Route 38 and west back to Third Street. Southbound traffic on Third Street will take the same route in reverse.

Third Street north of the train tracks will remain open to pedestrians and local traffic throughout the six-week construction period.

The railroad crossing will be closed to only motorists. The commuter parking deck still will be accessible to motorists and the railroad crossing still will be crossable by pedestrians, though the route through the construction zone has not been finalized.

The Third Street commuter parking lots south of the train tracks will be closed and are expected to reopen in December.

The project will require a temporary shutdown of the Western Avenue railroad crossing later this year, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in early October after work is finished at Third Street.

The closures are staggered to impact only one crossing at a time.

Union Pacific’s Third Main Line project will install a third railroad line near the UP-West railway tracks spanning from Peck Road in Geneva to West Chicago. The project began in 2022 and is expected to be completed in spring 2025.

The city will share information as it becomes available on the Third Main Line construction webpage. For more information and future construction updates, subscribe to the city’s Pardon The Progress blog.