Train underpass work planned
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com June 11, 2012 5:52PM
Updated: July 13, 2012 6:16AM
Folks who live near the 80th Avenue train station in Tinley Park may have some noisy nights ahead.
That’s because 55-foot-long steel piles will be driven into the ground beneath a pedestrian underpass that’s being built.
The work is scheduled from 11 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Saturday, and again from 11 p.m. July 6 to 11 a.m. July 7, public works director Dale Schepers said Monday.
The work is done at night because Metra has to remove 80 feet of track that lies over the underpass so the piles can be driven into the ground, he said. The piles are needed to offer support that ensures the track will not shift or settle, he said.
“We took decibel readings and it comes in at the site at 85 decibels, which is less than the horn of the train,” he said.
The nearest residences are about 600 feet away to the northeast. The pile driver noise at that distance checks in at 68 decibels, which Schepers said is comparable to a normal conversation.
“We just want to let the people know it’s out there. It won’t be some earth shaking, window shattering noise, but it will be constant pounding,” he said.
The underpass is expected to be completed by mid-September, he said.
For more information call the public works department at (708) 444-5500.
