Geneva is now slated to have the pedestrian crosswalk in front of the station removed:
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Beginning next week, many Metra commuters leaving from Geneva will get more exercise on the way to work.
One of two crosswalks near Geneva’s Third Street train depot will be permanently removed, Geneva’s city administrator, Phil Page, said at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting.
“We don’t have any control over this. This is a safety concern,” Page said. “This is certainly an inconvenience to commuters who are used to doing this for years.”
The Union Pacific Railroad will remove the crosswalk on Jan. 22.
The crossing would have become a safety hazard after Jan. 23, when Metra service will be extended from Geneva to Elburn, Thomas A Zapler, Union Pacific’s special representative for government affairs, told Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns in a letter dated Jan. 16.
Currently, all commuter trains on the route stop in Geneva. In off-peak hours, their stay in the city can last 20 minutes.
After next week’s change, rush-hour trains that originated and terminated in West Chicago will start and end in Elburn.
The express trains, which run up to 50 miles per hour, will not stop in Geneva.
“Due to the fact that there will now be express commuter trains operating through Geneva, the Union Pacific is very concerned that the commuters not familiar with express trains will mistakenly use the pedestrian crosswalk and walk in front of an express train, thinking the express train was going to stop at Geneva,” Zapler wrote. “Some residents and commuters will be inconvenienced, but we are sure that we are doing the right thing.”
