Geneva residents seek information about third rail project at Union Pacific open house

GENEVA – About 50 people gathered in the Geneva Public Works building Feb. 23 for an open house on the Union Pacific third rail project that is underway in Geneva.

The railroad hosted the event, providing maps, schedules and drawings about the project, which runs from Kress Road in West Chicago to Peck Road in Geneva.

The six-mile stretch of new rail will be set 20 feet south of the tracks and is expected to be completed in July 2024. The project is intended to ease commuter delays with Metra, as well as add safety features, officials said.

Some of the Geneva station safety improvements include:

• Completing pedestrian gate coverage on the road for moving pedestrians to the safest area to cross.

• End of platform diversions to channel commuter flow away from tracks and eliminate mid-platform pedestrian crossings.

• Another train warning system to alert commuters that a second train is entering the station.

Among the open house attendees was former Kane County Board member Drew Frasz.

“I grew up right next to the trestle in Geneva, so as a nosy former neighbor, I was kind of interested to see how it goes,” Frasz said. “The thing I think is pretty interesting is, when they built that trestle 70 years ago, they built it wide enough for that extra rail – the concrete abutments that go over the river. It was a lot of forethought to build it that way. It’s saving them a lot of money to do that. It’s pretty cool.”

Frasz, who has a background in construction, said it was a tough project in a highly congested area to build a third rail through Geneva.

“I’m sure it’ll go fine. I support it,” Frasz said.

Lindsey Douglas, senior director of public affairs for Union Pacific, said the open house gave the public a chance to ask questions.

“It’s been under development for a really long time and as we started doing construction – as we were out working – we had a lot of questions from the public,” Douglas said. “Working with the city, they really wanted to have an opportunity for the public to come out and ask questions and find out how their specific property would be impacted. And when we were going to be in their area.”

The railroad hosted an open house last year, but as construction was proceeding, Douglas said they wanted to host another gathering to allow the public to get their questions answered.

The project began in 2008 as a joint effort between UP and Metra, she said.

“This project has been going on for quite a long time,” Douglas said. “This is our territory that we share with Metra, so the commuter trains operate over the Union Pacific North Line, the Northwest Line and the West Line. What is unique about the West Line and why we are pursuing this third main line project is because we have quite a bit of overlap with commuter service and freight service.”

The overlap is causing a lot of challenges, Douglas said.

Geneva resident Sandy Kresler said she thought the project was fine.

“This is what we need to do to improve things,” Kresler said. “But more importantly, I appreciate the open house environment. I think it’s very inviting and very positive and it makes more for a conversation other than an us against them.”

Questions regarding the project can be directed to Douglas by calling 312-777-2037 or emailing lindsey.douglas@up.com.