By Jonah Meadows, Staff, Patch; May 10, 2019
SPRINGFIELD, IL — The Illinois Department of Transportation announced last week it has decided to drop a proposal to build five miles of holding tracks alongside railroads in a pair of affluent North Shore communities. The expansion is part of roughly $200 million project to increase service on the Amtrak Hiawatha Line between Chicago and Milwaukee from seven to 10 daily round trips.
In a May 2 letter to the state senators representing the North Shore — 9th District Sen. Laura Fine of Glenview and 29th District Sen. Julie Morrison of Deerfield — IDOT’s acting secretary confirmed the agency would not back the plan.