^ Even if it's just 1 or 2 bypasses along the Kennedy? What if they do zero construction and just outfit the B37 terminal and run 45-minute-ride premium railcars? Please let it be known.

Does anyone have a diagram of Metra Electric's existing operational right of way under Millenium Park and Illinois Center? Is it still feasible to run transit cars up to the river ?

Not sure about what's at the bottom of 1IC and 2IC, but theoretically it could snake up the Beaubien alignment all the way to the river.

Don't forget that the existing Metra Electric tracks extend almost all the way to South Water.

In the early 70s, space was supposedly saved for a future subway station on the lower level of Illinois Center, though I've never checked exactly where. A similar easement was put in the Cityfront Center PD (because I remember Chicago Dock & Canal demanding a sunset date on that). These anticipated an alignment under Stetson, though, for the Monroe Distributor subway.

Miesian architecture aside, Illinois Center is such a miserable failure when it comes to urban design. Horrible circulation, bad juxtaposition/interaction between buildings and drab and uninviting grounds. It was really a product of its era. I wish a more urban friendly [mega]development could occur that pulled people from the corner of Mich and Wacker (either side of 333Mich) instead of walled them out - and yes a rail station entrance at that corner would be fantastic.


PS - anyone have an image of that old rendering of the proposed Illinois Center back in the 20's before the crash killed it?

Can this be right...??? http://www.ceosforcities.org/pagefil...artXSFINAL.pdf

I don't think the results of that study are impossible. Although we have one of the smallest highway lane-miles per capita of any major city, we have a massive transit system, second only to New York in terms of daily ridership.

While the highway/arterial system is terrible at serving suburb-downtown commutes, it meets the needs of suburb-suburb commutes quite nicely. The major transit system meets the needs of the heavily concentrated traditional commute into the city.

More importantly, CEOs for Cities didn't start as part of the Texas Department of Transportation, so it doesn't produce studies that advocate more and more highways in response to increased population.

Looks like I called it (sort of).

Metra press release from today:
I can only assume the postponement means an engineering change, which could mean a reinstatement of the third track. Metra quoted a cost difference ($80 million) to Aaron Renn of keeping the third track, so clearly they had already considered the possibility with some detail.

Of course, it's also possible that Metra will find another avenue to keep two tracks through the construction zone. Logistically, however, it will be much more complicated unless they reduce the track centers, which would allow for the possibility of a third track in the future.

^ Nice call.

Presumably they can improve the schedule a lot by just shortening the length of the single-tracking. I think it was going to be single track from the construction zone all the way to Clybourn or Ogilvie or something, but if they allow for a switchover closer to the construction zone, they can bunch fewer trains.

If your right Ardecila then I take back all of the bad things that I have said about you.....;)

The Combined Cost of Housing & Transportation in the Chicago Metropolitan Region


Full PDF Report: http://www.cnt.org/repository/DAHB.pdf

More in link

More in link

A monorail? Is he joking? How about conventional heavy rail, like you know, the kind you already operate and have tons of experience with. Just put it up on a modern concrete elevated structure or sink it in a trench. It worries me we have officials actually using the word monorail when talking about transit aspirations. This isn't 1970. Conventional heavy rail is proven for high ridership rapid service. Monorail is not. The monorail would be a silly solution, not to mention a technological boondoggle. Yeah, give us the Mid-city transitway, just give it to us in the form of conventional CTA heavy rail or Paris RER style EMU's. Steer clear of the monorail route, its pure Futurama fantasy for a reason.

^ That's what happens when you replace the CTA chairperson every 2 years.

Well, I could see a Vancouver-style light metro along Cicero, if it somehow posed a substantial cost savings over traditional heavy-rail.

People like to think of monorails as futuristic, but they haven't really been futuristic for 40 years. We've already been there, done that, and discovered that monorail technology has numerous drawbacks and practical problems. Tokyo is really the only place where they've made monorails work as a serious transport mode...

Rodriguez talking monorails has me questioning his competence to run the CTA. Maybe he meant elevated?

Monorails would be ok IF there was no rational way to need to route from the monorail routing to the existing rail routes.

In other words, if running a line over Cicero would never need to also turn east onto the Green or Blue lines, then a monorail is a big impovement over a bus route, and if it doesn't need to merge with existing rail, then what's the problem?

Well, monorail technology is still very proprietary - every company produces a different, very specialized system. There aren't any standards or regulations, so CTA would essentially be tied to a single manufacturer forever, when track needs replacing, vehicles need replacing or major maintenance, etc.

For practical everyday purposes, CTA would need to train a whole crew in the maintenance and repair of monorail systems. This increases CTA's payroll, which adds quite a bit to the operating budget. A new heavy-rail line could just use the existing crews to perform maintenance and repair jobs.

It also gets quite complex and costly if you ever want a network instead of just a single line - switches on a monorail system are massive things that require a lot of complex machinery. Imagine sliding a huge concrete beam 9-10 feet to the left and sliding in another beam. A traditional rail system just uses frogs, little metal pieces that can be moved fairly easily with small motors.

Even light rail would be a better choice than monorail - light-rail systems are fairly common around the world, so there are standard construction practices, plenty of trained technicians available, and plenty of manufacturers to work with.

Really, the only advantage of a monorail system is aesthetics (due to a narrower guideway), noise (rubber wheels on concrete are quiet), and a slightly lower construction cost, because of simpler construction. In the long run, I doubt the advantages amount to anything, which is why monorail systems haven't taken over the world.


Most of those advantages would be a moot point along the Cicero corridor. Cost reduction measures would probably force the transit line onto the BRC viaduct two blocks east, where the narrower guideway of a monorail would confer no aesthetic advantage. Tracks on an earthen viaduct that are properly fastened to the track bed don't generate much noise, either, especially on straight segments - look at the Orange Line at Western or Kedzie. The construction cost would be reduced anyway, since the land acquisition costs would be small and there wouldn't be the nightmare of drilling piles down the center of Cicero.

I have to say that excites me a lot as a transit enthusiast, despite the silliness of the monorail suggestion.

I assume that they talk about the rail corridor east of Cicero whenever they mention that mid-city line. The city is covered with rail rights-of-way that could potentially be used as new lines if there was ever some decent money for them.

I especially think about that Bloomingdale line that runs through Humboldt Park being converted into a CTA branch. The park idea is kind of nice but seems like a waste when the valuable right of way could be put to transit use.

Does anybody have or know of any other reuse ideas similar to that one?

I still think the best place for a circumferential, mid-city line is along Ashland.

The Ashland corrider, for the most part, is pretty well built up, has seen a lot of new development, and seems to have the density to support it.

Western, on the other hand, is a lost cause IMO. It has already succumbed to the needs of the automobile and I suspect it would be far too difficult to turn things around. How are you going to redevelop all of those strip malls and auto dealerships into denser, pedestrian-oriented businesses? Not gonna happen.

And don't tell me that introducing a mass transit line will change that. I have yet to see any evidence that the Orange Line led to denser, transit-oriented development with the exception of a stop or two closer to downtown (and one can argue that those developments would have happened any way).

Chicago Red Line Extension Moves Forward as Some Push Cheaper Alternative


http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...r-alternative/




http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/w...South-Side.jpg

More laughs from the CTA
 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...=Google+Reader

'L' station to take Harold Washington's name
Jon Hilkevitch October 6, 2010 11:22 AM

...The CTA board voted Wednesday to change the name of the Library-State/Van Buren rail station to the Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren station.

...That it took this long for the CTA to adopt the change "is a form of racism," Blakemore said. "They are trying to deny a group of people their legacy."

Its already the longest CTA announcement by far so now its:


the next stop is Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren

doors open to the left at Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren

this is Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren

transfer to Red Line trains at Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren

Doors closing.

I think by that time the train has left.

:rolleyes:

Stupidity

People as stupid as this Blakemoore person are why racism exists. If everyone were just a little less moronic then we wouldn't have these problems...

Or how about the fact it costs $19,000 to replace the signs, that doesn't have anything to do with it? Nope of course not, its just racism. Just like how your eligible for free rides on that same system, yup so much discrimination.

What a F****** retard. And how much money are you donating to this cause Mr. Blakemore? I know I'll be paying for it with reduced service if the operating budget needs additional trimming next year.

I'm equally upset with the CTA for stubbornly NOT optimizing the station name. "Washington Library" would have done the trick. They could drop the "Harold" part and drop the "State/Van Buren" part.

DC seems to get along perfectly well naming their downtown stations after landmarks instead of streets and intersections. Even in Chicago, we have "Merchandise Mart". We don't call it "Kinzie/Wells".

Jesus Christ...Could they have made the name longer?

They should have just gotten rid of the library portion and simply called it State/Van Buren. I don't want to see the el turn into something similar to the DC Metro with its ridiculously long station names.

U Street/Cardozo/African-American Civil War Memorial is the clunkiest station name ever, especially considering that the memorial is tiny and not even near the station.

How about just U Street?

Because everything in DC has to be a tribute to some interest group or another so that the politicians that propose said tributes can garner favor with said interest groups.

So... CTA submitted an application for RTA funding to consider a Blue Line West Extension along 290/88.

This won't be a Federally-required Alternatives Analysis Study (required for New Start funding) but it will give CTA a direction to pursue.

I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not. Providing transit to the I-88 employment corridor is a good idea, but running CTA's existing Blue Line trains to Oak Brook or Lisle is problematic, and the travel times would not be competitive. Hopefully the study will address the possibility of building express tracks between Forest Park and the Loop.

edit.. also found this in CTA's October President's Report...

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/3271/ctatt.jpg

Has anyone seen that there is new illumination on the Wabash el supports at its intersections with cross streets -- a white (maybe LED) light has been placed inside the steel columns a couple yards above the ground, shining downwards. It's a rather nice addition though it's been carried out in a kind of half-baked way. Hopefully it's just the first step in something more ambitious.

^The one at Jackson & Wabash SWC went in about a year ago, presumably as the finishing touch in the Wabash Streetscaping project. I keep forgetting to look at the other corners to see how many were installed.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....-today.html#tp
by Blair Kamin

October 13, 2010

Regional planners unveil vision for Chicago area in 2040

Share | Regional planners on Wednesday unveiled their vision for the Chicago area's future, calling for a new emphasis on fixing existing roads, raising the state gas tax to fund road maintenance and transit, and increasing the Chicago region's share of the state's road funding pie.

Called Go to 2040 and based on almost three years of research and public hearings, the plan was released by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, a little-known agency that is responsible for land-use and transportation planning in the seven-county Chicago area.

...

I found this little tidbit when I was searching for an update on the South Shore's expansion plans.

Hanas probably just pulled this out of his ass, but if the SouthEast Service were to somehow be combined with the South Shore's Lowell corridor, that would be ideal. I'm envisioning a line running south from Chicago to Chicago Heights, then eastward to Dyer and then south to Lowell.

Politically, it could get the support of two states in Washington, which would be good, and it wouldn't run all the way out to effing Beecher, as in the current Metra plan. The Indiana side is already more developed. On the downside, it would lose the support of Will County, which wouldn't get any new service. (It could, potentially, be bundled with a Metra Electric extension to Peotone or Kankakee to appease Will County.)

Plus, it wouldn't require the electrification of further trackage in Indiana. That was always a flaw in the original plan - the freight railroads in Indiana refused to allow overhead wires to be strung above their tracks, so the South Shore would have had to buy dual-mode locomotives and coaches or - more likely - just run diesel-powered trains all the way up to Millennium Station. A dual Metra-NICTD train could be operated into LaSalle Street Station without sending polluting and inefficient diesel trains up the lakefront corridor, which will become all-electric in just a few years.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't solve the pressing problem, which is to find a local share of the cost. Indiana voters rejected the creation of a NW Indiana transit district that would have collected a sales tax to build the original lines, and many Indiana residents were skeptical about the usefulness of those lines. Illinois residents probably have a more clear understanding of the benefits of rail, but the state government is still massively broke.

Whatever the routing, I still think we should be striving for electric operation. Good grief, this is the 21st century. The use of diesel to haul passenger trains should be diminishing, not expanding.

Although one or two freight railroads have considered electrification, the freight industry overall is pretty resistant. This isn't Europe or Asia where the government owns the lines...

Well if South Shore's Indiana line didn't operate under third-world catenary maybe they'd be more ambitious about expanding electric operations.

^ This is true... but you can hardly expect them to run a first-class operation on a third-world budget.

If there was more support for expansion, then perhaps NICTD could build electrified lines along some of the abandoned rights-of-way in NW Indiana. There's a nice one that goes to Crown Point. That would get into the billions, though, like Colorado's plans.

Of course, there hasn't been a mad housing boom in Indiana, and the development that is there is very scattered, making it difficult to serve with a single rail line.

im going to give props again to the CTA for it's cell phone text arrival times. I use it every time I go to the bus. Every single time, unless the bus is 'due' meaning almost there and I can see it. All my regular stops I have stored in my phone. It's also kinda easy to figure out as they appear in numerical order. 'R' for resfresh! haha the tracker says the bus arrives in 4 minutes, after 2 or so I refresh - why I don't know but I do.

Electrification for the sake of electrification won't be a convincing argument for public investment. On a per-passenger-mile basis, the capital cost of building and maintaining the electricity infrastructure for commuter rail would be far less efficient than diesel-electric locomotives. The other argument is in air quality, which had a lot more sway ~80 years ago compared to today. If service were on a half-hourly or more basis, electrification could start to make sense from a cost efficiency standpoint, but absent that any capital investment could be much more effectively spent elsewhere.

Movie with CTA
 

Netflix has a 1976 movie (I think it was a made-for-TV movie) called "Million Dollar Rip Off" that was set and filmed in Chicago about some con artists who plot to steal fare from CTA stations. The plot has them taking $1.5 million dollars from just 3 stations. That seems like an implausibly high amount of cash from CTA fares in the early 70s, but what do I know ...

Not a great film, but nice to see mid-70s Chicago and the CTA, and it stars Freddy Prinze (Sr.)

The work crews at Grand and State shifted the plywood barriers this week on the Mezzanine level, exposing the finished parts of the station. Its looking very nice and it already feels more spacious. Not quite sure if its worth $67 million yet, but it is looking pretty good thus far. The stairs to the street include ramps for bicycles constructed out of polished black granite, with little bicycle symbols inscribed into it.

Congress Parkway improvement starts Oct. 21

Quick refresher:
• Narrow and reduce lanes to provide wider sidewalks to accommodate heavier pedestrian traffic and landscape improvements, and decrease the crossing distance of intersections
• Interconnect traffic signals and install countdown pedestrian timers to improve the flow of vehicles and pedestrians through intersections
• Modify a State Street median to facilitate vehicles turning onto eastbound Congress Parkway
• Maintaining bicycle lane connection across Congress Parkway at Plymouth Court and adding bicycle parking
• Landscaped, irrigated medians with pedestrian refuge areas
• Install 20 in-ground planters and seating areas with decorative pavers, 57 above ground landscaped planters, and 71 new trees.
• A LED decorative lighting system, including freestanding fixtures in the median and lineal fixtures attached to decorative metal trellises and the viaduct walls under One Financial Place

^Yikes. I remember the winter they tried to do the Wabash streetscaping. Snowfalls would shut things down for weeks at a time, forcing pedestrians to navigate tenuous plywood bridges that couldn't be shoveled properly, and the quality of the concrete work suffered in a lot of places.

Fortunately, Congress is the least busy street in the Loop for pedestrians. That's a big reason why the streetscaping is needed. CDOT might just close off whole stretches of sidewalk at a time.

I understand your point about winter work, though. It's a sad fact that we have a long and cold winter in Chicago, and unless we want all improvements to come to a halt, construction will have to continue into the winter.

Wouldn't be much of an issue material wise if we didn't rely so much on concrete. I'd love it if the entire CBD of Chicago received paver sidewalks and granite curbs. Concrete just doesn't match the high quality environment nor does it hold up to weather and wear. But, I realize I'm dreaming - pragmatism will always when out, and concrete 99% of the time is the most affordable solution - and it looks good for a few years.

Speaking of Congress, is the Congress Bridge slated for completion this year or next?
Also, looking further westwards, is the Eisenhower resurfacing finished?