The target date for completion of the resurfacing is October 31st (Halloween, ironically).

The Congress Bridge project has a much longer timeline - it won't be done until this time next year.

Eisenhower resurfacing is pretty much done, I think. The bridge reconstruction was always a two-year project, but I expected that the south span would be further along by this point in the year than it appears to be. As of this morning, the bridge still has no stringers and the old paint on the trusses hasn't been touched. Maybe they're waiting for the end of the navigation season and will do a big weeklong frenzy with the bridge closed.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2aj6yqw.jpg

CTA to buy 2 all-electric buses
October 28, 2010 3:25 PM | No Comments

The Chicago Transit Authority received a $2.2 million federal grant on Thursday to buy two all-electric buses.

The battery-powered buses -- the first buses with an all-electric propulsion system in the CTA fleet -- will be tested to see how well they perform in regular service, officials said.

Hmmm.

http://www.thethirdcity.org/blog/wp-...y-bus-1949.jpg
link

I've been seeing alot of SUV police cars around my area lately. In fact i don't remember seeing any sedan type cars in a while. Did the police buy alot of new SUV's lately? Why would they buy SUV instead of sedans? It doesn't seem like a very green or fuel efficient thing to do.

... as though CPD doesn't have anything else to worry about with their vehicle purchases, like durability, longetivity, security, maintenance costs, road performance...

Better clearance when driving on the sidewalk. . .

. . .

I'm just wondering why they bought SUVs? I've never seen that before. As far as performance, sedans are better because they have better acceleration, cornering, and are less likely to flip over at high speeds going around corners. In Florida where I used to live, alot of our police force used to drive high performance Cameros because of their high acceleration, suspension, cornering, and speed.

High speed chases aren't very common in Chicago, for whatever reason, so acceleration and cornering are probably low on CPD's priority list.

It's probably a mixture of factors, from auto manufacturers pushing SUVs for police fleets to police leadership seeking to project an image of power.

Actually, what sedans are currently being offered for police fleets besides the Charger?

After 2 decades, Ford is terminating its Crown Victoria (and Mercury Marquis and Lincoln Town Car) line next year. Police departments like rear wheel drive, body-on-frame (easier to repair), V8-class vehicles, but now there are very few sedans that fit this profile. So it probably came down to a Ford SUV or a GM SUV. Ford's next generation Explorer has switched to a unibody frame, but the Chevy Tahoe already had a special police version. Plus, maybe GM was more desperate to get sales and the police dept got a better deal from them.

The really interesting question for the average (non-scofflaw) citizen is what taxi fleets are going to start driving by 2013 or so. Since they have the same above preferences for vehicles, they may well follow CPD's lead and continue taking 3-year-old hand-me-down police vehicles, so the implication is that we theoretically could start seeing a lot of Chevy Tahoe taxis (pro: legroom; con: fuel cost) by mid-decade.

Of course the more desirable outcome would be a hybrid or electric vehicle that is cheap to maintain, and that can be produced in an extra-legroom version (like the Crown Victoria was for Chicago taxis), by that time. Oil prices could be a big driver (no pun intended) of the direction this takes.

Ford is offering two new police vehicles. The sedan is based on the new sixth-generation Taurus (replacing the Crown Vic). The SUV is based on the new Explorer. See here: Ford Police Interceptor

Cheverolet is offering a new Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.

^ Those ford pictures are all taken in Portland, OR

I don't think the City would allow the majority of taxis to become SUVs, since don't approved models have to pass some sort of accessibility standard?

I would hope we'd start seeing a lot more Priuses or something along those lines. I actually like riding in the Priuses, although I think my favorite taxies in the current fleet are those boxy Scion xB models.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...efinitely.html


http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/_pigs612.jpg

Pig-truck crash closes Indiana Toll ramp indefinitely

November 2, 2010 6:49 AM |

The crashed semi truck and some of its surviving cargo on the Indiana Toll Road on Monday. (Indiana State Police)

The crash of a pig-hauling truck Monday on the Indiana Toll Road caused structural damage that has forced the indefinite closure of the ramp from westbound I-90 to I-80/94, Indiana State Police said this morning.

Motorists normally using that exit at the 20.7 mile marker now will have to exit at the westbound Portage or I-65 exits, police said.

At about 11:42 a.m. Monday, a semi tractor-trailer rolled over after taking the westbound Toll Road ramp too fast and fell about 25 feet to the I-94 to I-90 westbound ramp. A number of the 79 pigs being taken to a farm in Michigan escaped and wandered onto the ramp and the grassy area separating the ramp from I-90 westbound traffic. A total of 23 pigs died.

Animal hauler trailers were brought in to take away the surviving pigs.

As far as those CPD SUV's... are they flex fuel an/ or E-85 SUV's? This could have been a factor in the Cornbelt Midwest and Midwest Mnf.....

Man those are some huge pigs. Was the driver ok?

^I think some of it is that Weis wants CPD to feel like they're real front-liners in the War on Terror,® not just guys who ride around looking for taggers and busting hookers. So they get assault weapons and intimidating SUVs like the FBI and Jack Bauer have. After all, any suburban department—hell, even McCook—could have those wimpy sedans.

That's the Lake Station interchange, right?

That was a very antiquated 1950's era design with tight turns that needs replacing anyway. Unfortunately, it took a severe crash to make that happen.

I thought the same thing about those pigs. They look well over market wt of 220lbs. These were from canada heading into Michigan to a Bob Evans sausage making place.

Some of these hogs from other pics that I saw of the incident looked over 300 lbs. It seems some sausage makers seem to put that extra lard into the product or sell it locally or more likely abroad if Mexico would not take it. But trust me everything from but squeel is used on these hogs and nothing will go to waste. Trust me on this one.

BTW the driver lived and was treated and released at a local hospital.

^Oh you don't have to tell me that, I have a cousin that used to work at a pork processing plant downstate, so I've heard allllll about it ;)

It's weird, I eat pork and know how these animals are killed, but I find them dying in an accident like this to be somewhat sad?

Yeah, because its not part of the plan ;)

I don't know this for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still get sent to the slaughterhouse to salvage the loss. The meat's still good right? It's not like they were laying dead in the blazing heat for 8 hours.


Are we seriously discussing this in the Chicago Transit thread?! http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/haha.gif

^^^ Yes, its sad that 23 pigs worth of bacon will go to waste... :(

^^^ Haha I was seriously going to write that in my last post but wasn't sure if it would be "kosher" ;)

Yeah - that is the only highway ramp I've ever driven on and actually felt unsafe. Every time I drove over it on the way back from the East Coast, I wondered how long it would take before something catastrophic happened.

I can't believe that design was acceptable, even for the 1950s. It's not like they were short on space to build a ramp with a wider radius...

Chicago South Suburbs Awarded $2.3 Million to Use Rail Infrastructure to Revitalize Region


October 20, 2010

Read More: http://www.cnt.org/news/2010/10/20/c...talize-region/

^All around fantastic news! First truly uplifting news I've had in the past 2 days!!!

Rode the red line for the 1st time in 5 years today
 

It hauled ass!

First of all, I am WAY impressed with the Belmont stop. Whatever they did with the Brown Line station expansion seems to be well worth it, IMO.

But that's a side note. My wife, myself, and my 15 month old toddler rode the Red Line to State/Clark today (BIG mistake--failed to notice that there are no elevators at that station--a big problem if you're traveling with a little one). The train was packed, the trip was quick, and the train ran at a very good speed.

On top of that, the station attendant at Belmont was very friendly. He really went out of his way to answer my questions and help me out. This stereotype of the rude, lazy CTA employee does not necessarily apply to all.

Couldn't have asked for a better mass transit experience.

The Brown Line project was definitely an upgrade. After that, the only stations older than 50 years have either been replaced, majorly renovated, or lie on the Red Line north of Addison (with the exception of a few Loop stations).

So, if the City ever actually builds the West Loop Transportation Center and the associated Clinton Street subway from somewhere near North/Clyborn to somewhere near Chinatown, do you think they'd ever consider, instead of meeting up with the Red Line just north of Chinatown, moving over along the freight rails along Canal, with a transfer at the Orange Line at Archer, then stations at 31st, 35th, Pershing, 47th, and 51st then moving over to the existing Red Line for a transfer station only at 55th/Garfield, then run south along the access roads the four blocks to 59th to the existing western Green Line tracks, terminating at Ashland/63rd?

That would potentially allow the conversion of the Red Line from 63rd north into Express service (maybe keep Chinatown or 35th, but not both) that would improve downtown access speeds to people living along the new Red Line extension. It would also double the frequency of Green Line trains to 63rd/Cottage Grove, maybe providing impetus to re-extend to Jackson Park.

It seems like there would be relatively few "losers" with changes like that, and while not cheap, the relative return on the investment seems like it would be as high or higher than other extensions being considered. With some negotiation the ROW wouldn't be out-of-the-question hard to aquire - worst case it could be an "L" over Canal, which probaly wouldn't be too objectionable since it's so close to existing freight and commuter rail anyway.

It might need a super-station at 18th Street so that express riders could still get to the West Loop, but I think these changes would really enhance service to a big chunk of the South Side.

Changes like those would also create additional justification and operations support for better South Side routes for a Circle Line (one that went through Bridgeport, for example).

I rode the Pink Line for the first time last weekend to go to a race down in Pilsen. AMAZING views of the city.

But are they at all considering a station near United Center? Seems like there would be a huge demand for it.

Is there a need for express service to the South Side? The Red Line is already pretty fast to 95th.

There would currently only be a huge demand for it during sporting event nights, and even then the demand might not be quite as high as you'd think.

It makes sense for their to be a station there, but I don't think there would actually be a huge demand for one until/unless the City got serious about consolidating the masses of United Center parking into a couple well-designed garages so that the parking lots could be redeveloped into something useful that might actually drive transit demand on a more regular basis.

My primary suggestion was adding service along about Canal. The express service idea was more to avoid having to remove the tracks than out of a strict need per se, because if you added good service to Canal and rall all red lines there, that would definitely slow things down for someone coming from south of 95th.

But you could, definitely, just move the red line to Canal and add lanes to teh Dan Ryan.

^ Huh? I'm not following you.

What's wrong with the existing Red Line that it needs a new alignment, less than 5 years after a major overhaul and station rebuilding? Obviously, it runs in a expressway median, which has drawbacks. But it's far better-patronized than the Green Line, which isn't in a expressway median and serves the same corridor.

As far as I know, the Norfolk Southern ROW along Canal is heavily-used by freight trains. That's part of the reason that Metra wants to redirect SouthWest Service trains into LaSalle Street Station, to avoid that particular line. And, once the Grand Crossing project is built, numerous Amtrak trains will be using that line to access Union Station. I'm not sure there's any excess space for a rapid transit line.

This interchange should be demolished entirely and replaced. Or even possibly a no-replacement solution with exits to a surface street and new ramps. The whole configuration is inefficient and unsafe. I don't know why this interchange has continued to remain in operation with all the other improvements done nearby. I've used this ramp plenty of times and seen many "fail situations." The emergency pull off area was dangerous to re-entering traffic. In fact, people at times would walk onto the ramp to stop traffic to allow a vehicle to enter. The railings on the overpasses were almost entirely destroyed and never seemed to be repaired. They would be of no use if a car were to slip on ice and hit the edge.

Illinois, other states happy to take rail money
By Associated Press
Posted today at 9:33 a.m.


High-speed rail projects in Wisconsin and Ohio appear close to derailment, with Wisconsin’s outgoing governor saying Monday he’ll leave the future of his state’s project to his Republican successor, who has vowed to kill it, and Ohio’s incoming governor saying again he plans scrap his state’s project.

Jim Doyle, Wisconsin’s outgoing Democratic governor, told The Associated Press that although he thinks a high-speed rail line to connect Milwaukee with Madison is a good idea, he feels obligated to leave the project’s future up to Republican Gov.-elect Scott Walker.

http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2...l-project.html

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...t-for-bid.html
This has the potential to become a cluster-f*ck of epic proportions. Lets just take this to its logical conclusion...the "City of Chicago, presented by Office Depot"

Much like our politics - sold to the corporation with the most cash for your campaign. Truly sickening.

I remember hearing a quote about a culture that surrenders to advertising, essentially loses their culture. I think that is what we are inching towards. A corporate sponsored public is no longer public. A corporate sponsored nation is no longer a nation.

Well said, and its why I've always advocated for these private deals staying out of the public realm. Its a very slippery slope. Also, theres practical reasons why this is a terrible idea as well. There was a great comment on the Trib comments which addressed this, so Ill just re-post:

"1) It will confuse tourists/visitors ("Where is the McDonalds CTA station??!", "Oh, just take the Starbucks bus to the Cubs line, then take it north" "What?!?!")

2) It increases the amount of corporate advertising in a city that is already littered with public space advertising. This makes residents want to move and it detracts new people from moving to Chicago. Advertising is ugly -- period!

3) Even after the naming rights are in place, the CTA's budget problems will continue so long as automobile infrastructure continues to receive higher priority in funding than mass transit

4) It increases the CTA's dependence on private funding. If the private sponsors lower their prices later, or decide not to renew contracts (two possibilities due to the on-going economic depression), the CTA will be forced to make budget/service cuts.

5) With all of the advertising space already available in this city, the CTA will not get top dollar for it's property."

:haha:

The 'Starbucks bus'! That made me laugh.

double post

Well, thats pretty much exactly what they're proposing. When you consider those ramifications, its not so humorous.

This is my #1 concern. How much are naming rights really worth? If they were super-valuable, then some other city would have already implemented a program like this. And, unless the CTA is absolutely retarded, they'll make the advertiser pick up the costs of any signage changes, which would then lower the amount of money that CTA receives by a corresponding amount.

All in all, this is going to be a major disruption and distration in exchange for very little return.

calm down, nobody here knows what "naming rights" actually means or what revenue it could generate. The Bears essentially sold their team name to Chase (Bank One then) and nothing effectively changed other than a couple million dollars in revenue to the positive. I'd hold out opinion until we know what we're actually talking about here.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,262071.story


Think that about covers everything.

I have been trying to find the daily ridership record for the L. Does anyone know what the single day all time highest ridership on L is.....source?

I'm not sure we can definitively say, but a good candidate is approximately one million boardings on 26 March 1930. A huge snowstorm put the streetcars and buses out of commission and the L carried many folks who usually rode the other systems. The Tribune report the next day noted that the day broke “all previous records” and that the L system usually had about 600,000 daily riders.

I think the peak year for L ridership was probably 1926, with 228 million (in 2009 it was 202 million). So in 1926 (when people worked six days a week) an average weekday would have been about 700,000. That was the year of the Eucharistic Congress, so it’s quite likely that some days in June might have seen 80-100,000 pilgrims in addition to regular riders, but the streetcar system carried the bulk of attendees to Soldier Field.

Ridership increased during WWII, but not to the peak of the 20s. The 1943 total was 175 million.

I’ve been trying to think of other special situations that might have dramatically increased ridership. I don’t think there were any streetcar strikes after 1915, and ridership was down quite a bit by the time of the 1979 blizzard. July 3rd fireworks have generally been the highest ridership days for Metra lines in recent years. The number of extra L riders looks dramatic right afterwards, but is probably more than offset by the number of regular L riders who didn't work that day because of vacation or weren't in school because of summer.

I'm surprised the 2009 total is so close to the all-time high. Of course, the system is much more expansive now, so we don't see the Japanese overcrowding of the 1920s era.