West Lakeview neighbors say reconstruction of Metra Union Pacific North tracks will ruin their backyards
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Neighbors along the western edge of Lakeview are talking with Metra about a construction plan they say will destroy their yards.
As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported Wednesday, no one we talked to is debating that the bridges along the Metra Union Pacific North Line at Ravenswood Avenue need replacing. It is the way to do it that is up for debate.
The West Lakeview neighbors were set to meet Metra face-to-face Wednesday to talk about the issue.
Christie Calmeyn had her wedding in the backyard of her home abutting the tracks.
"We thought this was our forever home," she said.
Calmeyn's two sons also now play in the yard.
"We bought this home knowing the railroad was here, but this scope of the project was inconceivable," she said.
The Metra tracks are a few feet east of her home. They lie on top of a low wall made of mossy stone masonry with greenery alongside the tracks, and items such as owl decoys mounted atop the stones.
Starting in the summer of 2023, Metra plans to replace the walls of the railroad embankment, and the tracks, in a $262 million taxpayer-funded project.
A total of 11 bridges on the UP-North Line will be reconstructed, from Fullerton Avenue on the south to Addison Street on the north.
"We are going from a really wide-open space – you know, a nice butter between our home – with green space – our home between moving trains, to an imposing, sterile, penitentiary-style cast concrete wall," said Craig Gunderson.
Indeed, the massive wall that is set to be erected as part of the reconstruction is the issue for the neighbors.
"The wall that will be here will be 16 feet tall," Calmeyn said.
Gunderson and Calmeyn worry about possible unavoidable damage to their property.
"Our landscaping will be destroyed," Calmeyn said. "Our yard will be destroyed."
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis explained what the goals of the project are.
"We have two pretty main goals," he said. "One of them is to replace the bridges, obviously. The other is to do that in a manner that allows us to keep the line operational."
As Gillis explained, the current structure allows space for a third track. A new track will be built in that spot, then an old one will be replaced, and finally, the oldest track will be removed.
With such methods involved, service will not be disrupted.
Neighbors say leaving a space with an option for a third track later on is what is keeping Metra from finding a way around the construction disruption.
Gillis: "We are not adding a third track."
Franza: "But are you going into it with the mindset of hearing out people who live in the neighborhood and saying, 'Maybe we'll be taking some of their suggestions?'"
Gillis: "Well, we are listening to the community, and we are soliciting their suggestions about the look of the retaining walls and the look of the fences. We're really there to just tell them why we're proposing to do what we're doing."
The project isn't set to start until summer 2023. Metra estimates it will take at least five years to get it done.
Union Pacific Rail owns the tracks and pointed us to Metra for comment.
A town hall meeting on the Metra plan was in progress Wednesday evening at Augustus H. Burley Elementary School, 1630 W. Barry Ave. Neighbors said they were not able to talk to Metra representatives directly at the meeting, but had to submit comments ahead of time.
