This is Part 4 of a series of stories about the mayoral election in Normal. Election Day is April 1.
All three candidates for Normal mayor agree that people need a safer way to cross the railroad tracks in Uptown Normal. But they differ on whether that should be an underpass, an overpass, or something else altogether.
The project has been discussed for over a decade and delayed repeatedly. The current plan is to build an underpass, opening pedestrian, bicycle and Amtrak passenger access beneath the railroad tracks at Uptown Station. There are two bids to do the work, between $35 million and $41 million, nearly three times higher than the $13 million estimate of the cost of the underpass back in 2017. The town has lined up significant grant money to offset some of the cost — at least $16 million from the federal government and additional funding from the state. A big gap remains.
Running for mayor April 1 are incumbent Chris Koos and town council members Chemberly Harris and Kathleen Lorenz. Koos and Harris have generally been supportive of the underpass idea. Lorenz has voted in favor of the project too, though she’s been vocal about her reservations about its cost and the public perception of it. She once unsuccessfully tried to put on a cap on how much town money should be spent on it.
“We will do something. We will do something to ensure we will cross those tracks at that place in a safe manner,” Lorenz said. “We need to check our assumptions.”
For some, one of those assumptions is that Normal is somehow legally required to build the underpass or an overpass.
It is not. WGLT checked with Town of Normal officials, who confirmed there is no contract or agreement in place that requires the construction of any sort of pedestrian rail crossing.
There are constraints. The big federal grant, as currently written, does specify that it’s an underpass, as does an Illinois Commerce Commission order from May 2024 that authorizes construction. (The town previously got ICC authorization to build an overpass but switched it to an underpass.)
Those constraints would not stop Normal leaders from just not doing anything. It’s optional.
Koos said it’s still worth doing. He said the safety need is real, as is the opportunity for economic development on the south side of the tracks – a plan known as Uptown South.
“We need that connection. If that’s going to be part of Uptown, it needs that physical connection. If we don’t have that, then we have to rethink what we’re going to do with those 8 acres on the south side of the tracks,” Koos said.
Initially, an overpass was planned, primarily to serve Amtrak riders who needed to get to the south side of the tracks after Uptown Station opened in 2012. But there were concerns that an overpass would not even serve Amtrak riders well going up and down an elevator or staircase, much less bike riders or other pedestrians. Since 2017, town leaders have been focused squarely on an underpass.
Harris has previously supported the underpass. She said the town should be open-minded about how an alternate-grade crossing is done, but that it needs to be done well.
“This is something we will have to do. This is not something we can sweep under the rug or act like it cannot happen,” Harris said. “We’re going to need to do something for the safety, as well as for the expectation placed on us already to put this together.”
Rising costs and uncertain funding
The cost of the underpass option has risen sharply. Even if the town accepted the lower bid of $35 million, that could still require around $10 million in missing money to get it done. Failing to fill that funding gap could force the town into essentially turning down the grants it’s already received – a tough pill to swallow for any municipality.
Town leaders have been working to “value-engineer” the project – taking away or reworking elements of it to save money – though it’s unclear how much lower that can drive the final cost. All three mayoral candidates say safety is non-negotiable.
“We’re taking a very, very hard look at that and get the cost down without dumbing the project down. That’s the critical thing we’re trying to do here,” Koos said.
Lorenz said a higher “local match” (town money) to fill the funding gap means the town would be less able to spend money on other town priorities, like roadwork or buying a new fire truck.
“It becomes an opportunity-cost question,” Lorenz said.
There’s also the potential that the big federal grant ($13 million from the BUILD program) could be clawed back by the Trump administration.
“Will we have we have any money to do this project? We just don’t know,” Koos said. “Things are going to slow down on that in the near term because we just don’t have good footing on what we can do moving forward, and I hope we can figure that out soon.”
The underpass might not be able to survive the loss of that money, leaving cheaper options like an overpass – or doing nothing at all.
Harris said she’d want to explore all possible options to get something done.
“Not all doors have been closed, so I don’t want us to start preaching doom and gloom when there’s not certainty to it,” Harris said. “And while you may call me optimistic, that’s what I try to be. That’s just who I am, in believing there’s still a way for us to get what’s supposed to come to us in the first place, and then find alternative ways to address the gaps.”
