Saturday, June 17, 2006
(8:56 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
The Kank
A mere three days after handing my truck over to my mom to put it in storage, I am going to visit Kankakee. This has always been the missing link in my plan to get by without a vehicle, but it appears that hope is on the way:PB is performing a feasibility study for the extension of Metra Rail’s passenger service from University Park to the City of Kankakee, Illinois along the Canadian National railroad right-of-way. This feasibility study is being performed for an intergovernmental task force comprised of Kankakee and Will Counties, and the municipalities of Aroma Park, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Kankakee, Manteno, Monee, and Peotone. The Task Force members and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) are funding the study.All the little town names down there are great, but "Aroma Park" is my favorite by far.
The project will examine the feasibility of providing commuter rail service to Kankakee County, located 38.6 kilometers (24 miles) south of University Park, and 19.3 kilometers (12 miles) outside of Metra’s 6-county legislated region of operation. PB will evaluate the feasibility of linking Kankakee County into the existing Metra system, and will examine several different engineering and planning scenarios to determine the most efficient and practical plan for a future rail extension.
I've heard from local sources that the city is buying up land to use as a parking lot; presumably the station will be right next to the current Amtrak. This is a good thing for the area, and I'm sure that they'll have the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the exact day that the last of my friends moves away from Kankakee.
