Yes, the concept would be to turn east and take the tracks roughly along 75th all the way over to the Red Line. Remember the 79th bus is the busiest route in the city.

Along with all three Wabash stations which are giant eyesores and pitifully dilapidated.

The plan to combine Randolph/Wabash and Madison/Wabash into one new Washington/Wabash station makes the most sense. Adams can probably skate by for a while with a good cleaning, some new paint, and replacement of the wood platform deck.

^^ Whenever the Wabash stations are rebuilt, it wont be all 3, they will consolidate to 2 stations just like they did on the Wells street station rebuilds. The 2 new stations will have longer platforms, and multiple stairwell entrances, most likely a Randloph/Washington and then a Madison/Monroe or Monroe/Adams alignment.

The most recent plans I've seen (as of a couple years ago) have a Washington/Wabash station connected to the Garland Building. I'd be curious to know how many people transfer between Millenium Station and the L at Randolph, as this is one of the few locations where there is very good connectivity between the two systems, and anecdotally during rush hour there are a decent number of commuters headed between the two. Moving the station a block south would lose that, but maybe it would ultimately be a negligible loss.

I believe Adams/Wabash is covered by the preservation consent agreement that requires it to be saved.

^^ Why? What is there left to preserve at Adams/Wabash? It's such a chimera of various additions that it doesn't seem worth saving. The most distinctive features, the Plexiglas roofs, were added in the 1980s.

The station that merits preservation is Madison/Wabash, or at least the Inner Loop stationhouse at the aforementioned stop.

From http://www.chicago-l.org/stations/adams-wabash.html

An agreement with the US Department of the Interior and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office protected the Loop Elevated structure but only required two stations to be retained. One station, Quincy, was to be restored to near-original condition. The other, Adams/Wabash, was to be retained and rehabilitated but significantly modernized. All of the other stations would be rebuilt and some relocated.

Word to the wise: never, ever sign a consent {decree,agreement}

Thanks for emphasizing that point - I'm curious enough to trek down to 79th and drive it myself to see that part of the city.

Given how busy the 79th bus is, I hope a rail alignment 4 blocks north would still be practicable for riders there.

Whatever the fate of the 'superstation' is, I'd love to see the stainless steel CTA shield on Randolph/Wabash saved and restored. According to chicago-l.org is used to have neon glowing behind it. How bad ass is that?

^^^ Yeah that sign is a total BAMF. I am obsessed with it and nearly everyone I point it out too goes "wow that's cool, I never even noticed it before".

Anyone know when the 35th street Metra stop is supposed to be completed? I'm sure its in here somewhere I'm lazy today.

Does anybody know why the Oak Park stations on the Green Line weren't made ADA-accessible in the 1990s rehab? Also, Garfield and 87th weren't made ADA-accessible in the recent Dan Ryan rehab.

It struck me that these are notable omissions in what should be an entirely accessible system. The fact that many stations still lack elevators adds a large degree of confusion when using the system for handicapped riders.

Ordinarily, I'm not an ADA hawk (I certainly am aware of the annoying constraints it places on building design) but a recent trip to DC showed me the value that a completely-accessible system holds, as I saw quite a few wheelchair-bound riders during the week I was there, whereas I rarely see them on the L.

^Probably because they weren't part of the rehab project, which primarily involved rebuilding the 1890s structure. The Oak Park stations were only built when the L was relocated to the embankment in 1962.

Jackson Viaduct at Union Station
Reconstruction Project
Canal to Chicago River

http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com...=1102595586227


The Chicago Department of Transportation is rebuilding the Jackson Boulevard viaduct between Canal Street and the Chicago River. The viaduct spans Unions Station's south passenger platforms and 16 tracks.

The work will entail building new piers, superstructure, roadway, sidewalk, as well as repairing the Jackson bridge and sidewalk. New lighting and upgraded signals will also be included.


Traffic Impacts

Jackson viaduct -- Closed from Canal to Wacker

Jackson Detour: Clinton (south) to Harrison (east) to Franklin (north), back to Jackson

Canal Intersection with Jackson -- reduced to two lanes for two months in fall of 2009.

Pedestrian Impacts

Pedestrian access to Union Station will be maintained from both the east and west. Pedestrians can cross the Jackson bridge to access the east side of Union Station.

Besides a rebuilt bridge/sidewalk, does anyone know what the positive impact on commuters will be?

Speaking of CDOT, I saw their Anticipated Contracts list for 2009. There's some good stuff on here... lots of stuff that I'm looking forward to as an infrastructure geek. This is, of course, a highly tentative list, and it presumes that the city will get enough funds for the entire list, which is doubtful. Also, these are projects that the city is bidding this year. Even if contractors are selected, construction may not finish by the end of this year, or even begin. I expect some of the smaller projects to be completed, however.

Lake/Ogden CTA Column Relocation (I'm hoping this will be like the job they did on the Brown Line at Wacker Drive - a huge truss installed to remove obstructing columns in the middle of Ogden)
LaSalle Street Intermodal Transfer Center
Morgan Green Line CTA Station
Congress Parkway Streetscape - Michigan to Wells
US-41 Relocation - Contracts II/III (this is the major arterial road that will be built through the South Works site)
Wacker Drive Reconstruction - Randolph-Adams/Adams-Congress (split into two megaprojects to get varying bids)
130th/Torrence Grade Separations (a major project in CREATE)
35th Street Pedestrian Bridge (on the lakefront. this one has been postponed many times - a good indicator of how tentative this list is)

The remaining 90% of the list is resurfacing and much-needed streetscape improvements on major streets, some in the central area. There are also quite a few bridge replacement/renovation projects, like the one BVic posted above.

The Full List

What's the LaSalle project?

And the Wacker project really needs to go to Harrison, and include all those crazy ramps linking Lower-to-Eisenhower, Upper/Lower-to-Harrison, Eisenhower-to-Upper and Lower, et cetera, no? Or are they waiting to know whether/how a Wacker extension southwards would be built?

I'm pretty sure the Wacker project does include the Congress ramps.

The LaSalle project is a transfer area for CTA buses at Congress/Financial:

http://i44.tinypic.com/mhxcg.jpg