In Dave Lundy’s line of thinking, a potential stop in Forest Park for the proposed O’Hare Flyer express train would be a boon not only for that village, but in neighboring towns, too.
“We think this is an enormous benefit for the entire region,” Lundy said Friday. “We think it’s a benefit for Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Melrose Park. We were talking to another local leader yesterday and they were like, ‘This would be huge for us. We’d love this. It would be fantastic.’”
In its current iteration, the privately financed train would make its way through Forest Park and neighboring communities at 80 mph every 15 minutes from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. The total travel time from downtown Chicago to the airport would be 15 minutes.
But Lundy and Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins envision a stop on the north side of the Eisenhower freeway at a village-owned parking lot that has been underutilized since the pandemic. That would mean someone could board the train and be at O’Hare International Airport in six minutes, or in downtown Chicago in nine minutes.
Lundy was also unambiguous about the location of a stop.
“The only place we’re considering is Forest Park,” he said. “We are committed to finding a way to make it work.”
Plan pushback
Plans for the triangle-shaped plat on Forest Park-owned land adjacent to the CTA Blue Line terminal could include a multistory parking structure, Lundy said. But he was also clear about something else.
“This is our concept, our vision,” he said. “I want to emphasize, no agreements have been reached.”
Nevertheless, there has been pushback regarding the proposed route for the O’Hare Flyer, particularly from River Forest, where village officials unanimously passed a resolution against it Sept. 14.
Realtor Laura Maychruk, who sells real estate in Forest Park, River Forest and Oak Park, said while a potential Forest Park stop appears to be feasible, it wouldn’t benefit the three local communities.
“I think absolutely not,” she said. “I think it would be a huge issue for those properties within a few blocks of that train. We already have the Metras and CTAs that come through our towns and the residential properties are adversely affected.”
The reasons for that are noise pollution, fumes, train lights and traffic backups, she said. Lundy has said the battery-electric O’Hare Flyer would be “whisper quiet” and the rail itself would be continuously welded, which will eliminate the “clicking” heard with commuter and freight trains.
Still, Maychruk said the issue is already impacting property values. Why?
“Because everybody is talking about it,” said Maychruk, in her 34th year as a Realtor. “If someone is putting their house on the market and it is adjacent to the train lines, that house won’t sell.”
As a Realtor, she said she is obligated to tell a client everything she knows. That includes the potential of a new train nearby.
“I’m obligated to tell them that the train may have an adverse effect on them,” she said. “I don’t think in my life I’ve sold many properties adjacent to a train line.”
Impact on property values
Lundy disagreed that the O’Hare Flyer would impact property values in Forest Park or anywhere else. In fact, he ventured the reality would be quite the opposite.
“The O’Hare Flyer will positively impact their property values because communities that have transit options like this one, their property values go up,” he said. “That’s not some wild hypothesis. That’s just fact.”
He went on to say that the U.S. doesn’t “add this kind of transportation connectivity very often into a community. When you do, you get development and property values go up.”
Lundy admitted there are legitimate concerns, especially in River Forest, and that he and his team are working to address them. But there are misperceptions, too, he said.
He pointed to the Sept. 14 River Forest village board meeting as one example.
“Some of the things that were said were – I’m choosing my words very carefully – not based in reality,” he said. “‘Oh, you’re going to create ground contamination.’ I don’t know how a battery-electric train is going to create contamination. They expressed concerns about Thatcher Woods. We’re having meetings with the Cook County Forest Preserve.
“We’ll work with Cook County. We’ll work with anybody. We’ll work with River Forest if they decide they want to work with us.”
He added that Hoskins plans to engage the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to aid in analysis of a potential stop in Forest Park.
CMAP had little to say about the matter Monday afternoon.
“CMAP has a technical assistance program that helps communities on a wide array of transportation needs,” a CMAP spokesperson said. “The mayor has reached out but we don’t have any commitments to the village at this time.
“We haven’t looked closely at the project plans and don’t have any other information to share.”
What will happen?
Will the overall project ultimately happen? Maychruk hopes not.
“I hope it doesn’t happen at all. I think it would change the feel of particularly River Forest,” she said. “There is some impact in Forest Park, but many more are impacted in River Forest. I think it would change the feel of the whole town.”
As for Lundy, there is only one tried and true course of action.
“All I can do is put out the facts, explain our intent, be accessible to the community and engage the community as much as I can,” he said.
“Because there seems to be a great deal of questions about whether we’re serious about this, as I said, we really want to make this happen. We intend to make this happen.”