SUMMIT, Ill. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today celebrated the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program Argo Connections (B9) Project completion, a new double-track connection and crossover at Archer Avenue and 63rd Street. This will allow for increased rail speed and flexibility to reduce delays, increase capacity and lead to faster and more reliable travel times—creating jobs, making our roads safer and easing supply chain delays that can cause prices to skyrocket for everyday essentials. Duckworth was joined by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Marie Newman (D-IL-03), Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman, Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski and other state and local partners. Photos from today’s event are available here.
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“For the past two decades, CREATE has worked to improve the way passengers and goods move over rail, making Chicago’s railroad network safer, more efficient and better able to accommodate increased freight and passenger traffic,” Duckworth said. “And while improving our infrastructure is so important, these projects are more than just that. Fewer delays means more time spent with family. It means getting goods faster and cheaper. It means using less gas when you’re not stuck behind a delay at a rail crossing, and spending less time in the car means you can spend less maintaining your vehicle, too. And it means more good-paying jobs in our region.”
In 2018, Duckworth helped secure an Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for CREATE, which helped support today’s Argo Connections (B9) project and the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project.
The Argo Connections (B9) Project constructed a new double track connection and crossovers – switches that allow trains to pass one another rather than waiting behind one another – between the Belt Railway Company of Chicago (BRC) and Indiana Harbor Belt (IHB) Railroad/CSX line at Archer and 63rd Street. This project connects the CREATE Beltway and East-West corridors and upgrades mainline crossovers to accommodate higher speeds from 10 mph to 25 mph, reducing congestion and minimizing freight and passenger conflict and delays.
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