by doepack
MetraRI's & byte's discussion about possible ways to improve Vermont St. make a lot of sense, and what a difference simply moving the MED tracks about 400 feet south would make. But it got me to thinking about the Prairie Crossing stations on MD-N & NC in Libertyville, which Metra considers a transfer station, though certainly not in the traditional sense. You've got two separate facilities located about a 1/2 mile south of the diamond, and I've never understood why it couldn't have been built as one station close to the location of the crossing. Plenty of land available, the access road would have needed a grade crossing over the MD-N track to get to Route 137, but that's no big deal; I'm not sure what else could have prevented such an otherwise logical location for the depot. As it stands today, the access road instead serves the function of connecting the two parking lots together, which is about a 1/4 mile or so on foot. Not an issue for able-bodied folks in good weather, but is certainly a hassle for everyone in bad weather; taken as a whole, the entire setup is just weird and inefficient. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Metra to reconfigure and consolidate the two stations at some point, especially if more NCS trains start running in the future...
--Dorian--