Work began Monday on nearly 4.5 miles of railway between Fox Lake and Lake Forest, meaning suspended midday service for more than a half-dozen stations along the Milwaukee District North Line, according to a Metra release.
The project — replacing 18,500 railroad ties and nearly 24,000 feet of rail — is expected to take nearly three months to complete, with midday suspensions for various stops north of the Lake Forest station expected into late October.
Metra Executive Director and CEO Jim Derwinski said the tie and rail replacement is “essential maintenance,” but the project is complicated because of a long section of single track making it impossible for work equipment and passenger rail service to run simultaneously. The majority of work will occur along a 17-mile single-track section between Rondout and Fox Lake, the release said.
“While suspending midday service along portions of the line will temporarily inconvenience our customers, this project will allow Metra to work more efficiently and help us meet our standards for providing customers with a smooth, safe, and reliable ride.”
Midday service will be suspended along the line in three phases, and passengers at affected stations will need to either use Metra stations on other lines or seek alternate transportation to the nearest open station during midday, the release said.
The first phase, which will run into mid-August, will have midday service starting and ending in Lake Forest. Then, on weekdays from Aug. 17 to Sept. 9, midday service will start and end in Libertyville. The final phase, running weekdays from Sept. 11 to Oct. 23, will have midday service starting and ending in Grayslake.
Metra 2026 construction program
Earlier this year, Metra announced its 2026 construction program, which includes track improvement plans to replace “at least” 51,000 railroad ties across its network this year — over a third of which will be from the MD-N project in Lake County.
Additional work includes road crossing improvements at 22 locations, including a crossing replacement on Conway Road in Lake Forest. A platform renewal is planned for the Grayslake station.