I mentioned it on the highrises compilation thread, but at the PDNA meeting people from CDOT presented and told us that the new Green Line station would be finished 4th Q 2014. Bids are to be out in the late summer with construction starting in the fall. The renderings they showed make it look very similar to the Morgan station in the west loop, which is fantastic AFAIC. There will be only one platform will be centrally located which I think is also a plus. And it will extend down to 23rd, so it will have two access points. Sorry no pictures.

So anyway the timeline for completion is way earlier than I ever expected at least. And therefore, is great news.

Anyways, from other topics of the meeting it seems that the new green line station, and the beautification project involving 6m in TIF for motor row and adjacent areas, has sparked a lot of new interest from businesses wanting to open up in the area.

I am pretty excited to see whats on tap for the motor row and adjacent areas as a result of this station. I have a feeling the area will undergo quite the transformation in the next decade or so.

Is there still a big tube around the L tracks in the station design?

John McCarron wrote an interesting column in the Trib last week about actually turning Motor Row back into, well, Motor Row. Put up a series of exciting showrooms as a promotional tool for automakers and a more urban model for the car dealership. I don't know if we should subsidize car dealerships with TIF but it would be a nice alternative to the big car lots out on Western or Cicero, which aren't great neighbors. I can imagine Motor Row becoming a convenient destination for maintenance, as well, since with the L right there the dealerships wouldn't need to offer loaner cars.

Yep, I like it. They said they did that to keep people out of the elements.
So its not exactly like the Morgan one, but they will use a lot of the same materials and likely similar signage etc.

I dont think we should rule out the history of Motor Row completely, and I dont see why old dealerships and showrooms in the area on adjacent streets couldnt coexist with new businesses actually fronting Michigan Ave. It could be mutually beneficial actually.

PDNA updates their website efficiently.

Looks like they added a full-length canopy and wind screens. Did CDOT staff read my criticism? :haha:

The station is beautiful. The staggered platform design has also returned, so it will operate like Loyola. The completely column-free platform within the tube is great.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6926/cermakl1.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2984/cermakl2.jpg

excellent

CMAP, RTA merger inches forward amid objections
 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...interstitial=1

By Marni Pyke

Legislation to merge the agency that oversees public transit in the metropolitan area with the organization responsible for regional planning jumped one hurdle this week despite opposition.

State Sen. Terry Link's bill to join the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning with the Regional Transportation Authority passed the Senate's executive committee Wednesday.

The measure would replace the 16-member RTA board, whose members each receive a $25,000 annual stipend, and the 15-member CMAP board, which is not compensated, with an unpaid 18-person board.

The new board members would be appointed as follows: five by the Chicago mayor, three by the Illinois governor, five by the Cook County chairman and one each by the chairmen of DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties and the Will County executive.

The changes "eliminate unnecessary and duplicative functions and provide the most cost-effective means to ensure that transit services are fast, well-planned, well-maintained, efficient, convenient, safe, and attractive," the bill states.

The goal is to double transit use in 25 years, Link said.

DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin, a former senator, criticized the proposal as failing to address funding inequalities.

"It's called the Transportation Modernization Act, but there's nothing modern about it; it's the same-old, same-old," Cronin said.

One of the problems facing the collar counties is that the Chicago Transit Authority gets the lion's share of discretionary sales tax funding from the RTA, shortchanging suburban transit, he said.

The geographic distribution of the new board would further consolidate power with Chicago and water down suburban clout, Cronin warned.

CMAP operates with 102 staff members and a $15.7 million annual budget while the RTA has a $33 million budget and 119 employees. The RTA oversees Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority.

The General Assembly is on a two-week recess, but Link said he expects a vote on his proposal this spring.

Meanwhile, some RTA officials voiced doubts the bill would go far in the Senate because of opposition from local mayors. "This bill does nothing for the region but distract from the real problem of financial needs," Chief of Staff Jordan Matyas said.

__________________________________________________________________________________________


In a somewhat related item -- I just purchased a new Laser Printer for the CTA Gray Line Project: http://www1.lexmark.com/en_US/produc...n-brochure.pdf

It has a maximum duty cycle of 35,000 pages per month, and I will be able to distribute many Gray Line fliers at any upcoming Meetings on the Red Line shutdown, and after May 19th at CTA 'L' stations (like Downtown, Garfield, and 95th), Bus Stops, and in-city Metra Electric District stations: http://grayline.20m.com/cgi-bin/i/im...lier_front.jpg http://grayline.20m.com/cgi-bin/i/im...flier_rear.jpg

For the Ravenswood Metra station why are they drilling massive deep caissons for a two story train station?

i havent been over that way, but isnt all that construction for the track bed rebuilding project?

They are also rebuilding the Ravenswood metra station.

All of the bridge abutments for the entire UP-North project will rest on caissons. I believe this reduces vibrations over a more shallow foundation.

Thanks alot!

Not really pressing news, but for anyone with a spiritual bent observing Easter:

http://cta2013.tumblr.com/

This guy is a teacher at Cristo Rey and a devout Catholic, and he is doing a pilgrimage to various churches/sacred spots around the city via the L, passing all 145 stations along the way. Taking the train is a key part of the devotion:

The city can be a poetic, spiritual place as well as a mecca of consumption and sin.

No mention of the Green Line in that snippet, by the way. ;)

This year's Burnham Prize competition will be to design BRT stations for Chicago.

Maybe we should have a betting pool for how many of the entries will incorporate wind turbines, urban farming elements, or bamboo.

When is Chicago's bike system going to actually happen? Originally it was to be LAST spring, and here we are already into this April and nary a peep about it.

NY's system has been in incubation for quite awhile as well, although partly that's due to Hurricane Sandy. I was there last week and saw them pouring some footings for the kiosks.

Chicago seems to be moving ahead, though. Here's an article (from today) claiming that all of the initial 400 kiosks will be installed by June's end.

http://northcenter-roscoevillage.pat...-share-program

Just got notice that the Congress Parkway LED lighting will be unveiled tomorrow evening.

http://i.imgur.com/9w71TdF.jpg

Chicago's Complete Streets Plan is out (lengthy complex PDF):

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content...Guidelines.pdf

Interesting. . . I'll have to take a look. . . seems to me that it's taken them a long time to get this project done, but maybe not?

. . .

^Oh, many months longer than was predicted. But last night didn't seem the right time to ask Janet Attarian about it.

As I looked up-close at the laser-cut trellises, I was struck by how much richer and visually rewarding they would have been if there were two layers (the grasses and the vertical pickets) sandwiched together, rather than having everything on one layer like a simplistic silhouette. At 40 mph it makes little difference, but the new streetscape is also supposed to be rewarding to pedestrians.