Press Releases

November 16, 2021 – Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Franklin Park Mayor Barrett Pedersen and the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners, including Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski, Metra Board Chair Romayne C. Brown and Canadian Pacific Chief of Administration & Corporate Events and Assistant to the President Chad Becker participated in a ribbon-cutting Tuesday, November 16 at the Metra/Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades (B1) Project. Click here to read the press release.

July 16, 2021 – The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners thank U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg for visiting the Chicago region to learn about how the CREATE Program is “Keeping the Go in Chicago” and throughout the North American supply chain. Click here to read the press release.

July 12, 2021 – The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners received a $19.1 million federal grant for construction of the Archer Avenue Grade Separation at the Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) rail tracks. Click here to view the full press release.

Get On Board brings together public agencies and private railroads to discuss business opportunities with special emphasis on Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation April 20, 2021 – The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program will host Get On Board, a business-to-business networking event, to share information about upcoming contracting opportunities with interested vendors. The CREATE partners will discuss anticipated timelines for design, right-of-way and construction work packages for projects such as the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project during the event’s opening session. The event is scheduled to kickoff at 10:00 am on Monday, April 26, 2021. Due to ...

The CREATE partners are pleased to announce that CSX has selected TranSystems and a team including six Illinois Disadvantaged Business Enterprises to provide construction management for the CREATE Program’s Forest Hill Flyover (project P3) and 71st Street Grade Separation (project GS19), two of four projects that comprise the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (75th St. CIP). Read the full announcement here (PDF).

Metra and Canadian Pacific, along with the CREATE partners, are pleased to announce the completion of the Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades project (B1). This project eliminates commuter and freight train delays by installing five crossovers and associated signaling on the Metra tracks serving the Milwaukee District West Line and Canadian Pacific, principally between the grade crossings of Scott Street and Ruby Street. This project also installs a crossover between the Indiana Harbor Belt and CN tracks, located between Chestnut Street and Grand Avenue. A crossover is a pair of switches that connects two parallel rail tracks, enabling a train on ...