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CTA Gray Line Feb 24, 2014 6:12 AM

CTA moves up Blue Line rehab
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...2203386.column

Jon Hilkevitch
Getting Around
February 24, 2014

The four-year overhaul of the CTA Blue Line O'Hare branch will be getting underway a few months early, the transit agency will announce Monday, with sections closing over 10 weekends between late March and August........

wierdaaron Feb 24, 2014 10:59 PM

Interesting proposal for protected intersections for cyclists. http://www.protectedintersection.com/

The video explains it pretty well. This would probably be very welcome here, and we've got wide enough streets that we could probably pull it off, but I don't see us being too innovative in the field considering how long it took to get any kind of bike lanes.

emathias Feb 25, 2014 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wierdaaron (Post 6466342)
Interesting proposal for protected intersections for cyclists. http://www.protectedintersection.com/

The video explains it pretty well. This would probably be very welcome here, and we've got wide enough streets that we could probably pull it off, but I don't see us being too innovative in the field considering how long it took to get any kind of bike lanes.

It's already the recommended way to do turns for cyclists, however it also means cyclists will often have to wait through two light changes for a left turn, which is obnoxious. I don't really support this sort of system

BVictor1 Feb 25, 2014 5:48 AM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7253433.story

Improving portion of high-speed rail corridor could cost $1.5 billion


By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune reporter
3:58 p.m. CST, February 24, 2014

Quote:

Improving passenger service on the slowest portion of Illinois' emerging 110-mph rail corridor, between Chicago and Joliet, will cost an estimated $1.5 billion, officials said Monday.

It's roughly the same amount the state is spending so far to develop the rest of the high-speed corridor south of Joliet to St. Louis, according to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

No funding has been secured yet to modernize the Chicago-to-Joliet segment, where trains often creep along due to heavy congestion and rail slow zones.

And officials said it's too soon to know whether 110 mph trains are feasible on any portion in the Chicago area.

hygge Feb 25, 2014 7:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 6458325)
Seem like the retaining walls are taking forever on that flyover. On the south end they actually had to move a street, including all of the utility lines underground. Hopefully the work will accelerate once the weather warms up.

This project should allow for an increase or at least a rescheduling of Amtrak service to Michigan and points east, relieving the Norfolk Southern line of heavy freight congestion. It's a crying shame that we aren't ready to start work on the next pieces of CREATE... 75th St Corridor, Grand Crossing, etc.

The two projects that you mentioned, are they they work that will be done between Porter, Indiana and the Englewood flyover? Are those the official names? Do you have any information on the status of the Porter Junction work and the additional siding between Porter and Illinois? I believe that once that work is done Amtrak will see a large increase on all three lines from Michigan as reliability is increased and total trip time is reduced.

untitledreality Feb 26, 2014 3:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTA Gray Line (Post 6465383)

The four-year overhaul of the CTA Blue Line O'Hare branch...

Maybe I missed it before, but I am excited to hear of the turn-back tracks being built at Jefferson Park and UIC-Halsted. More service where it is currently needed, better ability to manage rush loads, and the ability to manage future ridership spikes.

ardecila Feb 26, 2014 4:18 AM

Uh, there are already holding tracks at these locations... that's why you occasionally see UIC or Jefferson Park as the destination of a Blue Line train. I think the UIC one needs to be moved west of Western to increase service to the busier part of the Forest Park branch.

CTA Gray Line Feb 26, 2014 8:26 AM

Public input sought on transportation priorities
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7616396.story

By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune reporter
5:19 p.m. CST, February 25, 2014

Cook County residents and business owners are being asked to weigh in on setting transportation priorities for future projects – from roads to bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways.......

chiguy123 Feb 26, 2014 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTA Gray Line (Post 6468977)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7616396.story

By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune reporter
5:19 p.m. CST, February 25, 2014

Cook County residents and business owners are being asked to weigh in on setting transportation priorities for future projects – from roads to bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways.......

Just did this! I really tried to focus on reinvesting in what we have and improving inter-neighborhood travel (i.e. Ashland BRT).

ardecila Feb 27, 2014 1:38 AM

Count me as somebody with planning fatigue. We don't need more wish lists and magical thinking; we need political will, cooperation, and resources.

It's pretty well-known where the needs are. We've got failing railcars and buses, crumbling viaducts, and ramshackle stations. We've got agencies that won't even talk to each other, let alone cooperate and share ideas. We've got prominent Metra executives accused of rampant corruption and incompentence. How is one more planning exercise gonna solve any of it?

CTA Gray Line Feb 27, 2014 7:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 6470396)
Count me as somebody with planning fatigue. We don't need more wish lists and magical thinking; we need political will, cooperation, and resources.

It's pretty well-known where the needs are. We've got failing railcars and buses, crumbling viaducts, and ramshackle stations. We've got agencies that won't even talk to each other, let alone cooperate and share ideas. We've got prominent Metra executives accused of rampant corruption and incompentence. How is one more planning exercise gonna solve any of it?

Do you know the Tale of Admiral Hyman Rickover Ardecila? Look him up.......

chiguy123 Feb 27, 2014 9:37 PM

Chicago's Big Bet on the Bus
 
This article was posted in the Chicago subreddit and it's interesting to see the opinions of people who are less urban/transit nut balls (like we are). Seems like a lot of people are in favor of this, which is good. I'd give it a 70/30 split.

Thought some of you may be interested in seeing the discussion over there!

ardecila Feb 28, 2014 2:18 AM

There's definitely some SSP/Reddit overlap... but yeah, the masses are not as uninformed as it appears sometimes.

The most vocal people at community meetings are often those with the most to lose and the most time on their hands (semi-retired Boomer property owners). In real life, though, these people are a minority. For obvious reasons, not a lot of these people use Reddit.

wierdaaron Feb 28, 2014 2:40 AM

I guess you could look at it one of two ways:

"More money for the busses? Why would they do that? The bus system is terrible."

Or.

"More money for the busses? Finally! The bus system is terrible."

Which camp you fall into probably depends a lot on whether you use the bus system to go places.

killaviews Feb 28, 2014 4:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiguy123 (Post 6472054)
This article was posted in the Chicago subreddit and it's interesting to see the opinions of people who are less urban/transit nut balls (like we are). Seems like a lot of people are in favor of this, which is good. I'd give it a 70/30 split.

Thought some of you may be interested in seeing the discussion over there!

The article is accurate in that Chicago has a split-personality regarding transportation. I know a lot of people without cars and a lot of people that couldn't imagine living here without a car.

People here think they have a right to drive and park anywhere. With our transit, car ownership rates should be much lower. We're behind Baltimore, Philly, Boston, and D.C. in car free households.

And the number of people that drive to work drives me mad. Maybe the parking meter sale was a bad deal, but I'm all for the price increase. I can't believe people drive to work downtown.

Every single development meeting seems to be like 85% about cars and traffic.

The BRT fight is a real defining moment for the City. Are we really going to block mass transit because people want to drive to Costco? That fact that that is even a legitimate consideration in the city is insane.

Fucking Costco!

the urban politician Feb 28, 2014 1:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 6470396)
Count me as somebody with planning fatigue. We don't need more wish lists and magical thinking; we need political will, cooperation, and resources.

It's pretty well-known where the needs are. We've got failing railcars and buses, crumbling viaducts, and ramshackle stations. We've got agencies that won't even talk to each other, let alone cooperate and share ideas. We've got prominent Metra executives accused of rampant corruption and incompentence. How is one more planning exercise gonna solve any of it?

I've had planning fatigue for years. I don't visit this thread very often for that reason. While other cities are building, here in Chicago we're just performing a perpetual mental masturbation about "the possibilities". For example, we've had enough meetings about the BRT plan. What's the surprise that a certain faction is against it? Just move the proposal forward and get started. Fuck everybody.

killaviews Mar 1, 2014 6:06 AM

Re Chicago's split personality:

Exhibit A: if you have a kid in the car you can do anything.
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...chools-support

I lived near a school, a private one, with a ton of drop offs and pick ups. They caused more problems than any delivery trucks.

A magnet school with families that don't live in the neighborhood could veto a grocery store because parents want to drop their kids off without hassle.

Insane.

the urban politician Mar 1, 2014 1:57 PM

^ Should be pretty easy to coordinate delivery times outside of the usual drop off/pickup times for the school.

But yeah... it's kind of annoying. I actually realize now that I could never be an Alderman for the simple fact that I couldn't stand the obnoxious complaints day in/day out from community members about every little issue.

By the way, shouldn't this be in the 'General Developments' thread?

Mr Downtown Mar 1, 2014 8:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician (Post 6472974)
we've had enough meetings about the BRT plan. What's the surprise that a certain faction is against it? Just move the proposal forward and get started. Fuck everybody.

You seem like an unusual kind of politician. The kind usually known as an unelected dictator.

ardecila Mar 1, 2014 9:41 PM

^ In your position as a community leader, I hope you realize that not all opinions within a neighborhood are reflected by its most vocal representatives.

The people with the time to attend community meetings and protest things are not the people who are slogging to work on the bus day in and day out, or struggling to afford housing amid rising prices and stagnant supply.


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