Arlington Heights sits about 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, with two Metra stations, two major highways along its edges and Pace’s headquarters inside village limits. Transportation is also the biggest unanswered question about a Bears stadium at Arlington Park.
Metra: two stations on the Union Pacific Northwest Line
| Arlington Heights | Arlington Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 45 W. Northwest Hwy (downtown) | 2121 W. Northwest Hwy at Wilke Rd |
| Distance from Ogilvie | 22.9 miles | 24.4 miles |
| Opened | 1854 (rebuilt 2000) | 1975 |
| Avg. weekday boardings (2018) | 2,506 (5th of 236 suburban stations) | 1,738 (15th of 236) |
| Fare zone | — | Zone 3 |
The Arlington Park station was originally built to serve the racetrack and now also serves commuters and the nearby Palatine postal facility. It sits on the Bears’ property, which is why Metra improvements are part of the team’s infrastructure request. Ridership figures are from 2018, before the pandemic; I’ll update them when Metra publishes newer station counts.
Highways and major roads
- Interstate 90 (Jane Addams Tollway) runs along the village’s southern edge.
- Illinois Route 53, the northern extension of I-290, runs along the western edge, right next to Arlington Park.
- Northwest Highway (U.S. 14) cuts diagonally through the village, parallel to the Metra tracks.
- Rand Road (U.S. 12) and Palatine Road are other key arterials.
I-90 and Route 53 connect Arlington Heights to O’Hare International Airport and to Chicago.
Pace buses
Pace, the suburban bus agency, is headquartered in Arlington Heights, and its routes link the village to Metra stations, Woodfield, O’Hare-area job centers and neighboring suburbs. Check pacebus.com for current routes.
How residents commute
The average Arlington Heights worker spends 27.7 minutes getting to work one way (ACS 2020-2024).
Why this matters for the stadium
The Bears have asked the state for roughly $855 million in public infrastructure money, including Route 53 interchange work, local roads, sewers and Metra changes, but no itemized list has been published. The team’s traffic study was paused in fall 2025 and had not been delivered to the village as of March 2026. Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg have asked that road planning extend two to three miles from the site, naming the Route 53/I-90 interchange and Algonquin, Kirchoff, Euclid, Northwest Highway and Palatine roads.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Arlington Heights station
- Wikipedia: Arlington Park station
- Wikipedia: Union Pacific Northwest Line
- Wikipedia: Arlington Heights, Illinois (roads, Pace)
- U.S. Census Bureau: QuickFacts (commute time)
- Village of Arlington Heights: Arlington Park redevelopment (traffic study status)
- Daily Herald: Arlington Heights neighbors want in on Bears talks