Every day Metra provides one of the most earth-friendly ways to get around Chicagoland, and for this year’s Earth Day celebrations, Metra is doing its part to help the planet and promote sustainable practices in the communities we serve.
Metra will be kicking off the week by thanking our riders for riding green with Metra at our downtown terminals on Tuesday, April 22. Metra will also be promoting “riding green” with transit at the Aon Center’s (200 E. Randolph) Earth Day Fair starting at 11:30 a.m.
“Metra does its part every day to reduce pollution, but we can always do more to help the planet,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski. “This year’s Earth Day activities will engage our riders and encourage them to protect our planet while being a good neighbor to the communities we serve.”
Throughout the week, Metra employees will also be cleaning up trash along the tracks, removing dead plants and planting flowers and trees at various locations. Cleanup and gardening activities will be taking place along the Milwaukee District North Line, the Metra Electric Line, and the Rock Island Line.
On the Metra Electric Line, we plan two clean-ups along the right-of-way. The clean ups will take place in Hyde Park between 47th and 51st streets on April 22 and in Roseland between 109th and 112th streets on April 23.
Earth Day activities along the Rock Island Line include both landscaping improvements and right-of-way clean up. Between April 21 and April 25, Metra employees will be working on the line’s Beverly Branch along Vincennes Avenue from 108th Street to Gresham and on the mainline along LaSalle Street between 31st and 47th streets to clean up the right-of-way. We also plan landscaping improvements and planting trees and perennials along the Beverly Branch at Edmaire Street and South Hale Avenue in Morgan Park and at the 103rd Street Station.
Along the Milwaukee West Line, we will be cleaning up and making landscape improvements at the Itasca and Western Avenue stations.
Of course, Metra encourages the public to use our transit system for the good of the environment – not to mention the benefits to your wallet, stress level and productivity. But we also hope to inspire the public to take other steps to observe Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22: Take a walk, plant a tree, ride your bike, plant a garden, recycle, or carpool. Go to earthday.org for more information on how your actions can help the planet we all share.
News media seeking to cover these activities are asked to contact Metra’s Media Relations Department in advance at 312-322-6776.
