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Community Corner

Quinn Signs Bill Creating Southeast Commuter Rail District

Proposal would bring commuter rail service to Southeast Suburbs including train stations in Chicago Heights and South Chicago Heights.

A long-anticipated project to bring commuter rail service to the southeast suburbs moved a step closer to reality Monday when Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation creating the Southeast Commuter Rail Transit District.

At the ceremony in South Holland, Quinn was joined by a mayor or town representative from 20 communities including South Chicago Heights Mayor Dave Owen and Chicago Heights Chief of Staff Matthew Fares.

Quinn said the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Al Riley (D-Hazel Crest) and state Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields), will open up the southeast suburbs to economic development and job growth.

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“The SouthEast Service Line will provide access to an underserved area while creating jobs, sparking economic development and improving the quality of life in the southeast suburbs,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.

The proposed rail line would run 33 miles from Chicago’s LaSalle Street station to Balmoral racetrack in Crete. Suburban stations would be built in Dolton, South Holland, Thornton, Glenwood, Chicago Heights, South Chicago Heights, Steger, in downtown Crete and at the racetrack.

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At a meeting in Tinley Park in September, Riley said what makes the project an easy sell is that more than 90 percent of the rail line would be on existing track.

“This is just the first step,” he told a packed house Monday alluding to other transit proposals for the south suburbs including an airport in Peotone and the Illiana Expressway connecting I-57 with I-65 in Indiana.

“This would not have been possible without a governor who means it when he says he cares about the south suburbs,” Riley said.

Hutchinson said the cooperation among elected officials to push the rail line is the sign of things to come for the Chicago Southland.

“This sends a strong message about how serious we are to be considered a region,” she said. “We have shown how strong we can be if we work together.”

The estimated $778 million cost would be split 60-40 between the federal government and local agencies.

Rick Bryant, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago) whose district includes the proposed rail line, said the federal portion of the project has already been approved.

“All we need to go forward is the local matching share,” said Bryant.

Finding the local contribution will be easier now that the commuter district has been created, said South Holland Mayor Don DeGraff, who has been a chief proponent of the rail line for the past decade. Funding will be sought from a variety of sources, DeGraff said.

South Holland has already acquired the land for its proposed stop on the new line.

So, too, has South Chicago Heights for its proposed stop at East End Avenue and Sauk Trail.

“We closed on the property a month ago,” said Owen, who also serves as vice chairman of the Southeast Metra Rail Board.

“This will create jobs and create economic development,” said Owen. “If you’re not on an expressway like Tinley Park or Orland Park, you can’t get anything. The rail line will open us up to new development.”

“If we don’t get this, all the towns on the (proposed) line will die on the vine,” he said.

Owen said the rail line could be up and running within five years because so much infrastructure is already in place.

“This means a great deal,” said Fares, representing Chicago Heights Mayor Vincent Zaranti. “Not just getting a station but the economic development it can bring.”

Fares said the proposed stop in Chicago Heights is near 17th Street and East End Avenue.

Metra board member Ed Paesel, also chairman of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, said the Southeast rail project has been on the drawing board since the mid-1980s.

“We still have quite a ways to go, but this shows gubernatorial and legislative support as well as local support," he said. “Now we just have to get creative with the funding.”

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