Governor Quinn Breaks Ground on $34 Million MetroLINK Transit Facility

MOLINE – August 30, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn was joined by local officials today to break ground on a new MetroLINK Transit Maintenance Facility in Rock Island. The $34 million project will consolidate the agency’s administrative operations and maintenance functions, and it will serve as the cornerstone of a new riverfront development. This project continues Governor Quinn’s agenda to improve transportation and grow jobs in Illinois. MetroLINK estimates that the project will create 125 construction jobs.

“In order to continue to compete in the global marketplace, we must invest in updating our mass transit systems,” Governor Quinn said. “This project will create jobs, support statewide green initiatives and ensure that MetroLINK has the facilities it needs to provide good service to people throughout the Quad Cities.”

The new facility will replace MetroLINK’s current maintenance facility, which was built in 1983 and does not contain enough maintenance bays or space to support the current vehicle fleet. As a result, the agency often must lease space off-site to house and fuel vehicles.

"This modern, 'green' facility has the potential to be a catalyst for economic development," said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who has secured over two million in federal funding for the project. "It is consistent with the goals of the Recovery Act: create jobs, invest in our infrastructure and contribute to an environmentally sustainable future."

The 140,000-square-foot facility will increase efficiency and improve operations consolidating a number of functions in one sustainable space. The facility will house the following: administrative operations and maintenance offices; a full-service maintenance garage; a dispatch center; fueling stations, both compressed natural gas and diesel; a parts’ storage area; and storage and/or parking for all buses, support vehicles and employee vehicles.

The state-of-the-art facility is designed to be LEED silver certified and will contain: a photovoltaic solar system to generate electricity; a geothermal heat pump system; a solar hot water system; a clean-water-recycle bus washer system; and a compressed natural gas fueling station. The project is funded through a combination of federal, state and local capital funds. The project will also receive $15.5 million in Illinois Jobs Now! funds.

The new facility will be centrally located about one mile west of MetroLINKS’s Centre Station in Moline. The engineering and design phase of the project is under way, and foundation and utilities work will begin this fall. Construction on the new facility is scheduled to begin spring 2012, with an expected completion date in spring 2013.