Stair cave in at University Park Metra station sparks upgrade questions

Half the staircase leading pedestrians to the Metra Electric train tracks at the University Park stop caved in last week, injuring one and temporarily making access to the commuter rail more difficult.

“The person who was injured was treated at the scene for lacerations. It was a minor injury,” Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis said Monday. “They weren’t admitted to the hospital.”

Metra announced Wednesday the stairway at the station was out service and customers had to use the ramp. Gillis said Metra does not have a time frame for when the staircase will be fully operational again.

Wednesday’s incident comes after years of local leaders calling on Metra to improve the stop’s conditions. Because the University Park stop is the end of the line for the Metra Electric commuter rail, it “therefore attracts a wider reach of commuters from points further south than a typical rail station,” according to the 2022 Transit Oriented Development Plan.

Stairs at the University Park Metra Electric station collapsed Aug. 23, 2023. (Vivian Covington)

The 2022 plan outlines a far-reaching goal to build homes and commercial centers around this stop, taking advantage of the opportunity being the end of the line presents. However, as ridership has decreased in recent years, some are pointing at the stop itself and demanding overdue upgrades.

“When I was the mayor … I had called them out because I was a little disgusted about the condition the Metra station was in,” said former University Park Mayor Vivian Covington, 73. “It’s in bad condition (and) it smells.”

Covington said in 2017, Metra agreed to begin station upgrades, but Wednesday’s stair cave in serves as a reminder of the deteriorating condition of the stop.

“They talked about it, they toured it,” she said. “So they agreed that we needed an upgrade and they said that they would get it done.”

University Park Mayor Joseph Roudez could not be reached for comment Monday. Elizabeth Scott, the village manager, agreed this most recent event reiterates the demand for an upgrade.

“This definitely highlights the need for funding to get these fixed,” she said.

Scott also said the village only owns the parking lots.

“We deal with the maintenance of the parking lots,” she said. “The actual stairs that lead up to the actual platform and all that, Metra maintains that.”

In a summer newsletter, the mayor’s office and the Village Board pulled together a list of funding the town has recently received. In it, they mark the Metra Transit Project Grant worth $34.9 million. The newsletter says this money was given out in 2022, but it is unclear how much of this money is specifically for upgrading the University Park station.

“That’s going to be coming down the pipeline,” Scott said. “They are going to be starting phase one engineering in the next couple years. But, you know, these are all long-term plans.”

Chicago Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat contributed