By Chicago Times Magazine –
January 22, 2025
Metra is exploring financing options to address the replacement of numerous aging bridges. The commuter rail agency faces a substantial funding gap and is seeking solutions to address its most pressing needs.
According to Metra, they operate trains over 926 bridges daily, with 446 owned by the agency. A significant portion of these bridges, 50 percent, are over 100 years old, while another 30 percent exceed their typical 75-year lifespan. While currently safe, these older bridges require increasingly costly repairs and maintenance. Metra officials have emphasized the urgent need to replace or rehabilitate these structures to avoid operational disruptions.
Metra receives capital funding from local, state, and federal sources, but allegedly these funds are insufficient to meet the agency’s needs. The current five-year capital plan (2025-2029) identifies $5.4 billion in required projects against only $2.1 billion in available funding.
Instead of issuing revenue bonds, Metra is considering a $230 million loan from the federal Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) program. This program offers favorable terms, including lower interest rates, extended repayment periods, no prepayment penalties, and flexible amortization. Repayments, estimated at $15 million to $20 million annually, would be drawn from Metra’s existing operating funds, primarily fare revenue and regional sales taxes.
The potential loan would fund several key bridge replacement projects. These include replacing 11 bridges on the UP North Line in Chicago, rebuilding the Grand Avenue bridge and the North Branch of the Chicago River bridge in Chicago, expanding the North Branch of the Chicago River bridge in Northbrook, rehabilitating the Hickory Creek bridge in Mokena and New Lenox, and rebuilding the 96th Avenue bridge in Mokena.
The RRIF loan application and approval process is expected to take approximately one year. The initial phase involves submitting a letter of interest to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau and beginning an underwriting review, a process estimated to take three months. Metra’s Board of Directors Finance Committee will be updated before the agency engages Build America Bureau advisors.
