The passenger rail agency said it will renovate the Macomb Travel Center to make it more easily accessible for everyone.
“We have an obligation to make our stations as accessible as possible to people who have all sorts of issues, whether they’re people who are needing mobility help or people who are low vision,” said Amtrakspokesperson Marc Magliari.
“The work includes an ADA accessible ramp to the station, work on the doors systems to make them push-button automatic, improvements to the lavatories, and a better path from the station to the sidewalk.”
Magliari said the work could cost "a few hundred thousand dollars," though the exact price tag is not yet known because the project is still in the design phase. He said Amtrak planned to complete the work this year.
The station is owned by BNSF and leased to the city, but this project will be paid for by Amtrak.
The Amtrak-sponsored website Great American Stations said the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad opened the Macomb station in 1913. Magliari said the current project will not alter with the historic nature of the station.
“There won’t be anything that will be of that kind. Everything we do has to be signed off on by the state historic preservation office,” he said.
The website said renovations and upgrades were also done in the 1980s. The city worked with the Illinois Department of Transportation on that project.
