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-   -   CHICAGO: Transit Developments (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101657)

youngregina Jun 29, 2008 7:26 PM

Whats going on under the green line from western Ave what looks like all the way to downtown?

the urban politician Jun 29, 2008 8:05 PM

^ Please read your post and explain to anybody here how we're supposed to understand what you're asking.

ardecila Jun 29, 2008 8:13 PM

The Lake Street Improvement Project. Repaving, new streetlights, parkway trees, and new traffic signals.

Taft Jun 30, 2008 4:13 PM

Trib digs into CTA
 
CTA's rail safety criticized

The worst part about this article for me is in the replies to the article in the comments section. One year into Huberman's tenure and so many people are already calling for his head. Give the guy a chance! I think the system is improving under his watch.

Taft

brian_b Jun 30, 2008 9:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngregina (Post 3642972)
Whats going on under the green line from western Ave what looks like all the way to downtown?

Are you talking about the above Lake Street improvement plan or are you talking about the workers who come out past midnight and run cable along the underside of the tracks? Some nights they are noisy! Been going on for a couple months.

k1052 Jul 1, 2008 1:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taft (Post 3644386)
CTA's rail safety criticized

The worst part about this article for me is in the replies to the article in the comments section. One year into Huberman's tenure and so many people are already calling for his head. Give the guy a chance! I think the system is improving under his watch.

Taft

Agreed. You can't expect him to turn the CTA totally around in such a small time after being mismanaged for so long. Things are improving but still have a long way to go.

youngregina Jul 1, 2008 1:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician (Post 3643041)
^ Please read your post and explain to anybody here how we're supposed to understand what you're asking.

It makes complete sense. I just got a quick glimpse of it when i was driving down wester ave, but it looked like paving of some kind.

spyguy Jul 1, 2008 2:10 AM

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=30019

Lawmaker has bill to block CN's suburban rail route buy
By: Bob Tita June 30, 2008


U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam will try to block Canadian National Railway Co.’s purchase of a suburban rail route by having the federal government restrict traffic increases on a portion of the route to just commuter trains

the urban politician Jul 1, 2008 2:40 AM

^ What a joke.

Nowhereman1280 Jul 1, 2008 2:59 AM

I hope the Chicago representatives come in and blow that bill out of the water... We need to start annexing the stinking suburbs and consolidating our power base...

ardecila Jul 1, 2008 6:22 AM

The bill will go nowhere... little local issues are made into bills all the time in Congress, but most Congressmen recognize how small-time these issues are, and shrug off the bills - unless it's a "universal good", like naming a federal facility after a civil rights leader or founding father. Then, it's politically useful and it makes them look good.

Nobody's mentioned it yet, but Obama, despite all the credit we give him, is opposed to CN's purchase of the EJ&E. If he's elected president, he may install people at the Department of Transportation who will kill the purchase. For this reason, the protesting towns are trying to stall the decision as long as possible.

honte Jul 1, 2008 7:20 AM

^ What is Obama's reasoning for opposing it?

the urban politician Jul 1, 2008 1:27 PM

^ Obama won't block the bill, IMO.

Once he's president he won't give 2 shits about this minor suburban concern. The only reason he made a statement now is because he is an Illinois Senator after all, and he doesn't want to lose anyone's support in this stage of his presidential campaign

nomarandlee Jul 1, 2008 1:37 PM

:previous: Who's support is at risk of losing? You think Illinois in the one state he is seriously in jeopardy of losing in the general election? I simply think this is a case of him being misguided and sticking up for the little guy citizens against the big bad corporation. To bad in actuality its the corporation who is actually the more egalitarian in this case and the wealthy exurb citizens (at the least the loud Barrington contingent) who are the selfish obstructionist.

......Anyway I am not too worried and I think the pluses of the sale are overly clear compared to the minuses. Also the point in the article about blocking the sale as an impediment to private property rights without overwhelming compelling reasoning. I guess the Republican Mayor kinda lost the party mantra when it came to this case. A half baked idea which may not even come to fruition about superb train line that could likely still run even if the deal goes wouldn't warrant blockage I would think.

alex1 Jul 1, 2008 8:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taft (Post 3644386)
CTA's rail safety criticized

The worst part about this article for me is in the replies to the article in the comments section. One year into Huberman's tenure and so many people are already calling for his head. Give the guy a chance! I think the system is improving under his watch.

Taft

I was initially disappointed by Humberman's selection but he's been okay. At least the guy isn't as damaging as Kruesi was.

alex1 Jul 1, 2008 8:25 PM

does the CTA no longer post ridership numbers for each individual bus route, rail line and stations?

performance metrics don't really mean s***. At least not compared to being able to view the old statistical breakdowns.

ardecila Jul 1, 2008 8:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician (Post 3646441)
^ Obama won't block the bill, IMO.

Once he's president he won't give 2 shits about this minor suburban concern. The only reason he made a statement now is because he is an Illinois Senator after all, and he doesn't want to lose anyone's support in this stage of his presidential campaign

Maybe, maybe not. The President appoints all cabinet-level positions, including the Secretary of Transportation, and several positions below cabinet level within the Department of Transportation.

I checked up on this - the Surface Transportation Board is what makes the decision on whether CN can buy the EJ&E or not. The three members of the STB are also appointed by the President, although they have 4 year terms that Bush just renewed last year, so they will probably hang over into the next president's term.

However, I wouldn't put it past Obama to personally make sure CN loses... as long as this fits into an overall trend of Obama sticking up for communities over corporations, then it actually makes him look good. But if it's an isolated incident, then it just makes him seem to be pandering to Illinoisans.

HOWEVER - all of STB's actions so far seem to indicate that they favor the railroad. They refused to examine any other options in the Chicago region for CN, saying that no other route through Chicago would accomplish what CN wants. Plus, as I've said before, precedent also favors the railroad. The STB seems to be on track to make their decision in December, before Bush leaves office.

Mr Downtown Jul 1, 2008 11:59 PM

It's hard for me to see what criteria STB could legitimately use to deny CN permission to purchase the J. STB's mission is to oversee the competitiveness and efficiency of the nation's railroad network, not to resolve local grade-crossing disputes.

I think it's interesting that a century ago Chicago could simply require the railroads to elevate their tracks through the city, at the railroads' expense. Partly that was because the railroads came after the city was established, and in many cases actually occupy city streets. Illinois law apparently has changed since then, generally making grade separations a joint expense of both railroad and road agency. And expectations have changed a lot.

aaron38 Jul 2, 2008 4:02 PM

Biking Chicagoland
 
Yesterday we rode our bikes from Palatine to Chicago and back, just cause I'd never done it before. It was quite an experience. Biking Chicago is a breeze. We flew down the bike lanes on Elston and Milwaukee and back up the lakefront trail. No problems at all moving within Chicago limits.

But the suburbs are so damn fragmented. There are bike trails and residential streets to ride on, but no good way to get from one to the other. We got to DesPlains easy enough, but from there, we basically had no choice but to ride on the gravel shoulder of Central road for about 2 miles because there's no other way past I-294 and all the rail lines.

There's plenty of room on the shoulders of a lot of roads for bike lanes. I'm hoping that with the higher gas prices, we start getting the political pressure to expand the bike lane network. Just 10 miles of bike lanes in a few key areas would knit the area together.

VivaLFuego Jul 2, 2008 5:28 PM

^ I wish I trusted my bike skills and auto/truck/bus drivers not to kill me, because biking is hands-down the fastest way to get around Chicago proper.


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