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8/25/2020
Metra crews tomorrow will begin a $2.3 million project to replace a railroad crossing at 87th Street and Pulaski Road on the SouthWest Service Line in Worth Township, Illinois.
Crews will reposition the crossing gates at the intersection closer to the tracks, add pedestrian gates and replace the signal bungalow. Work also will include the replacement of rail, ties and ballast.
About $350,000 of the project's cost is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Metra officials said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Metra is working simultaneously to upgrade the signal systems on the SouthWest Service Line from Wrightwood to Chicago Ridge. The 87th Street and Pulaski Road crossing is located just north of this project and will receive the same upgrades to the signal system, agency officials said.
Metra is also installing a fiber optic network on the SouthWest Service and Rock Island lines. That $28.5 million project is designed to provide a more reliable transmission system for Metra’s signal systems; additional communications bandwidth that will allow Metra to install cameras at 300 rail crossings and the depots along both lines; a reliable transmission system for electronic platform signage and public address systems; and bandwidth for future improvements, agency officials said.
Metra expects to save more than $690,000 annually by eliminating monthly charges for modems, telephone lines, DSL and cable lines currently used for our communications system.