Mobility-Challenged Metra Riders Slowed At Lisle Station
LISLE (CBS) -- If you've ever rushed to catch a train, you've probably passed them: People with physical challenges fighting to get up the stairs.
Some commuters question why one suburban Metra station doesn't have easier access, CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.
Barette says her knee problems force her to struggle to get up the stairs at the Lisle Metra station.
"This is so painful every morning," Lisa Barette says.
Dodie Peters shares her frustration. She uses a cane with each step.
"People try to get around you and you have to watch the stairs because people are trying to walk around you," she says. "They're in a hurry to catch a train."
They're just two passengers who say the west suburban station is too difficult to get through when you have physical challenges.
Metra's website lists the station as "accessible," but Peters disagrees and says the commuter rail stop needs an elevator.
Some riders say you can avoid the steps by taking a pedestrian tunnel, but it adds the equivalent of several city blocks to the trip.
"It becomes a bit of a problem I think if you have some mobility challenges going from one side to the other," Lisle Village Manager Jerry Sprecher says.
Lisle officials say they're committed to making the station more accessible.
They've been working on a plan to put an elevator there since 2006.
But for now, it means some passengers will have to endure.
The village expects to bid the project by sometime next month. It will cost more than $400,000.
