Metra to rebuild 3 Electric Line stations on South Side

Metra’s board of directors has approved $33 million to rebuild three Electric Line stations on the South Side.

The stations at 79th, 87th and 103rd streets will be rebuilt from the ground up, starting next summer, and will be made handicap-accessible, the transit agency announced Wednesday.

The work is part of the Metra Electric Community Initiative to modernize 13 stations on the line that stretches between the Loop and the far south suburbs.

Each station will be closed for seven months, but the work will be staggered so at least one station will remain open during construction. The plan is to begin construction in 3¹⁄_2-month intervals, the transit agency said.

The work will replace the stations’ stairs and platforms. The projects will add new enclosed, ADA-accessible street-level entrances and lobbies with elevators, new composite deck platforms, new lighting, landscaping and signage.

Similar work is underway at the 147th Street/Sibley Boulevard Station. That work began in May and is expected to finish next summer. Work on the Homewood station is planned to begin in the spring.

Metra said it has contracted work at the three stations to IHC Construction of Elgin. Metra is funding the work with its share of funding from the Rebuild Illinois capital program.