yeah, you could see that one coming a mile away.

We'll see how far that budget gets. The guy who wrote the budget said he basically took Trump's speeches and designed a budget based on that. Kind of a weird way to design a budget, and I don't think even the Republicans will allow this "skinny budget" get implemented.

Wabash has reopened south from Washington, though just 1 lane's worth (dead center of the right of way). The pleasant surprise is it looks as though they have reconstructed the street (not just a surface layer) while they had it closed for station construction. Also, the lighting running the length of Wabash there is now white LED, which really changes the character of Wabash. Once the whole block underneath the new station is finished, it could be practically unrecognizable if it's entirely far brighter, and whiter, than ever before. Along with the sparkling new station itself the presence and attractiveness of the station area could really encourage more el usage.

How is the bike path bridge at the river / Navy Pier coming along? Haven't seen a picture in a while. When does it open if it hasn't already?

That is a shame. I want to take Amtrak to the Quad Cities, I've been waiting for the new route to Moline to open. I've heard the city and state are still trying to make it happen, but it probably won't happen this year as originally planned.
I need to get there to pick up a car from my parents. My options are an 11 hour bus ride, or a $130 one way car rental. That's what Amtrak is competing against.

Phase 1 is done (the segment north of Ogden Slip) but it's literally a Looney Tunes-esque bridge to nowhere until they build Phase 2. That work is slated to begin this summer and wrap up in 2018. Phase 3 is a just a widening of the sidewalk on the existing LSD bridge - not out for bid yet.

Not sure what interplanetary bus line you're checking, but Burlington Trailways does it in 3:35, for $40.

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Chicago/Davenport

And the most famous bus company, Greyhound, runs four trips a day under 4 hours to Davenport from Chicago and two additional ones under 5 hours all for as little as $25 if you book a week ahead. And one to Moline in under 4 hours, two under four hours and one additional under 5 hours.

Also, Megabus runs a daily bus to Moline for $29 round-trip in 3 hours 10 minutes.

So, yeah, decent array of options, all much less than 11 hours or $120 car rental. Heck, a fancy bicycle could make the trip in 11 hours. Oh, and I've seen plenty of rentals for around $25/day plus gas (about $25 each way), so even that isn't a terrible options, price-wise, depending on how long you'll be in Iowa. But you might have to pick the car up at the airport lots for the best deals. I've rented cars for as little as $13/day in admittedly rare circumstances - you just have to be flexible and use a credit card that includes car rental insurance.

New renderings for the Belmont Blue Line renovation. This time, it looks a lot more realistic/constructable.

The rendering also appears to show an elevator from the streeet to the mezzanine, which would be utterly pointless if there wasn't a second elevator from the mezzanine to the platform. Maybe CTA has reversed their earlier stance on making the station accessible.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2rzrkms.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/fabwxd.jpg

That will complement that gas station and strip mall across the street very well.

Or it will kickstart investment in the area...

This is the last Blue Line station that isn't in an expressway median. The land around it has tremendous potential for density. Too bad the alderman is a socialist.

Strange they don't show an elevator to the platform. I would say now is the time to reverse the position of the stairs / escalators and elevator and extend the mezzanine. Nearly identical to the arrangement of the other blue line stations. Plus the stairs would touch down more toward the center of the platform with the elevator closer to the agent booth

I hear ya, but the damage is already done. That area is boxed in by low density housing, and there are just too many car oriented developments in the area. Meanwhile Zoning still thinks it's 1953 and they are trying to reduce the density of any and all things (families will die! Choked by the factories!). I'm sure a whole lot of nothing will happen here, until locals stop fantasizing about Chicago's glory days of the 1950's and recognize that the world is changing and leaving us behind unless we reboot the shit out of our thinking. Something I don't expect to happen

If the station can be accommodating I might suggest senior housing. Upgrade the mall to something a little more dense. But that's all I can think of. No matter what, it's a tough sell to attract a higher quality residential market.

There is plenty of land to develop along Belmont east and west of the station. There's a small factory for sale at Belmont/Bernard, I'll eat my hat if it doesn't become a TOD. Also quite a few dilapidated frame buildings along Belmont that could be consolidated.

Also the giant strip mall doesn't exactly have top notch tenants. Best Buy and ALDI are good but the others are junky, low rent retailers. If the mall owner is smart, he'll be looking to redevelop... a quick Google search reveals Centrum as the owner, certainly no stranger to large mixed-use developments.

There's a ton of development in both directions along Belmont coming down the pipeline. There's 90 units proposed for the entire 4200 block of Belmont, two big apartment buildings on the NE and SW corners of Ridgeway and Belmont (18 +20 units), the Whistler is building a flashy cocktail bar with patio at the NW corner of Ridgeway and Belmont, another six flat under construction between Monticello and Lawndale, there's a 50 unit building proposed at Elston and Belmont where the Ace is, there's another 9 unit building proposed just east of Sacramento where honey baked ham is, there's another six proposed just north of Belmont on Elston, and several six flats understand construction or just finished up next to Burger King. Belmont is a logical station to improve, I just wish they were adding a South Entrance at Barry.

Quick question.

Is there any reason why there's two Western and two Harlem stations on the Blue Line? Is it because the address coordinates that accompany the names are enough to tell the difference?

There's also a Western Brown Line, a Western Pink Line, and a Western Orange line. What gives? It's almost as if there's a major arterial street that has hosted bus/street car routes for a century running the entire length of what used to be the Western edge of Chicago?

It's not the address coordinates, but the branch name that is to be used to differentiate. There is only one Western stop on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line. The city could have used colors or tried to use landmark naming more than it does, but other cities sometimes have similar issues. It's just that proportionally Chicago has more dupes because of the orientation around the loop and the grid system.

Certainly not a unique issue:

http://i.imgur.com/H92mCHe.png

But it does make it tough for the designer of Chicago transit maps that we want the Westerns and all the Ciceros to line up. That makes it tricky to displace things to show the Loop bigger, in the usual way of schematic transit maps:

http://i.imgur.com/xYerxMv.png

^ The travails of cartographers are indeed underappreciated. A famous one named McClendon just resigned from Uber to live in the Midwest, though no doubt the clarion call of his craft will keep him continuing reconciling the physical world with our mind's eyes for many years to come.

But the original post was about the same name on the same color. Even if NY had that, it'd probably involve different boroughs, allowing for no-brainer distinction even to tourists.

I've ridden a lot of transit systems around the world and can't remember encountering a duplicate name on the same line. Without fail there is always at least some suffix or subtitle that distinguishes the stations where the duplication would otherwise occur -- often systems go out of their way to avert duplication not just on a single line but often across an entire system. Having two Westerns on Blue is so primitive; if they inaugurated the color schemes 25 years ago to encourage usage and reduce confusion especially with visitors, the same impetus should dictate they rename one or both. This is not like forcing all the suburbs to change from the 312 area code like in the '80s, this is a simple gradual fix largely within the control and budget of the CTA.

^ Another map maker named McClendon, eh? Hmmmm.... ;)

^ I believe it's been said that there's no relation. But what are the odds...

In my role as an active Airbnb host, I deal with a lot of out-of-towners. Most of them realize the distinction between stations even when the names are the same, although because I live nearest to the Chicago Brown Line stop, I emphasize in my arrival directions that it is on the Brown Line, and not the Red or Blue lines (although the Red Line station is only about 4 extra minutes walking compared to the Brown). I have had two guests, out of 500 bookings, accidentally get off at the Chicago Blue Line station and become lost. I've also had people ignore my warning to be sure they get on a Brown Line train at Clark/Lake and end up halfway to Oak Park before they realize their mistake. My directions are almost painfully detailed, so places that give shorter, more general directions probably see more instances of people arriving at the wrong station.

Then again there are people who simply don't understand the concept of shared transportation. Or maps, or numbers, for that matter. One guy was as dumb as a post about taking the bus from Union Station to my place. You can literally exit Union Station at the River and Jackson, hop on the 156 at the stop across the street, take it 15 minutes and it drops you on the corner of my block. It ended up taking him 75 minutes to make the 1.5 mile trip and in the end he ended up hailing a cab. I told him that I work by Union Station and can walk the distance in 25 minutes. He apparently thought that the 151 and the 156 must be the same route (!?!?!) and then from Michigan Avenue couldn't figure out how to walk west on Huron. He realized he had made some navigation mistakes, but when I asked where he was, he couldn't tell me even though I *know* the street signs on Michigan are well-marked. I mostly enjoy meeting my Airbnb guests, but it's outlandish how utterly stupid some of them are. My current guest actually stood in front of my neighbor's building, which has a well-marked number, and couldn't figure out that my building, numerically less than 10 points different, we right next to him, walked back to the corner and called me, claiming, "There is no <my address>," to which I laughed and said, "I guarantee you it exists," and went downstairs to point at the address on the door. So much idiocy.

^ I wonder if there is any common thread to those urban neophytes -- elderly; rural; language barrier; etc.? Also, whether the big confusions happened on really frigid, windy, or rainy days, etc. By the way, five hundred guests -- wow, you can be chair of the board of "platinum" hosts. (Plus, you could buy a round of beers for people on the forum...)

But your observations are a gold mine of data points. City planners, tourism planners, and many others could really learn a lot from that.

Also, whenever I go by Chicago Station on the el I always picture a gaggle of tourists suddenly seeing the sign as soon as the doors open, and looking at each other and say "whoops, we're here!" and bolting onto the platform, only to soon discover they're nowhere near where they want to be. People don't take that concern seriously, but they're failing to consider the mindset of various visitors and the various ways they may be arriving (solo or in a group; capable of English or not; fatigued after a long-haul or not; in a huge rush or not; afraid to consult strangers or not; etc.). So your findings about Chicago Station finally provide evidence. If we're even half-serious about tourism (and lots of City and State dollars are indeed being spent promoting in Asia, for example) then we need to eliminate obvious potential for confusion. Take any friction out of the system if it's low hanging fruit.

Of course, at the same time, there's no cure for sheer stupidity. So hopefully there's an app (hello, maps app) for that.

The Red Line viaduct at Wilson Station is really coming along. Magnificent, uber-long steel girders were on several trucks last night lined up along Broadway.

Plus: Facadectomy type action in process on the white vintage 1-story station structure running along Broadway from the Wilson corner (because the old track right of way has now been dismantled from its roof).

Adam Collins, Rahm's communication's director, is reporting that renovation plans for the 63rd/Cottage Grove station will be announced tomorrow.
Source: @AdamDCollins

http://chicago.curbed.com/2017/4/24/...pment-woodlawn

Upgraded CTA station, affordable TOD headed to Chicago’s Woodlawn
New investment—both public and private—is another positive development for the Woodlawn community

BY JAY KOZIARZ APR 24, 2017, 2:11PM CDT

Someone should tell "Chicago Curbed" that the Cottage Grove station IS NOT the city's oldest. Although the Alley 'L' extension toward Jackson Park built in 1893, its the Garfield Blvd is the oldest station building. Cottage Grove was rebuilt and reopened in 1991. In fact, none of the original stations from the 1892-93 era are left.

The impact of the President Obama Library on the CTA Green line will probably not be felt because the library location is over a mile distant. Please do yourself a favor by not asking that the 63rd St. elevated be built over again. The city, CTA, U of C tore it down in the 1990s.

David Harrison

Why, exactly, is it a bad idea to extend a rapid transit line to a major tourist attraction and a connection with commuter rail?

Hell, do it as a (relatively cheap) cut and cover subway. With 63rd St still so vacant, the impact of this construction would be pretty minimal.

That close to the lake, there's no such thing as a "relatively cheap cut and cover subway."

Just making an observation that the blighted state of the corridor poses a unique opportunity to get a subway for a lower cost.

Alternatively, the aerial structure could be rebuilt, but 125' north of 63rd in line with the alley. Not many takings would be required for this except (unfortunately) a pretty new school.

Why dream about rebuilding something that the city, U of C, CTA, tore down 20 years ago. Plus, why when plans already approved on the drawing board are threatened.

(CBS) — The head of the Regional Transportation Authority warned Wednesday that the CTA’s proposed Red Line extension faces a roadblock, should the Trump administration’s budget proposals become law.

The American Public Transportation Association said $38 billion worth of projects in 23 states would be affected by the proposed cuts, including the extension to 130th Street, which is one of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s priorities.

What makes it worse is the unique position Chicago is in because the state of Illinois lacks an infrastructure plan.

During a conference call from Washington, D.C., with Phoenix (Ariz.) Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith, RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard said the lack of state matching funds puts him into a lose-lose position.

“As much as I like my friends here from Arizona,” Dillard says, “they’re ready to gobble up any federal money that is there if we’re not prepared from day one to move forward in Illinois.”

DH

I wish instead of pouring all that money into the Green elevated rehab in the mid-90's, they had trenched the entire south side line (Englewood branch notwithstanding) at least from the IIT station or starting just south of the Stevenson and dug it to Jackson Park. All the new open air, partially subterranian stations with street level mezzanines would have been so awesome. It would be interesting to see a cost comparison between the tedious structural rehab and station rebuilds vs. starting over in a trenched ROW.

^You probably don't remember that the Green Line rebuild was so stretched for money that almost none of the structure was actually replaced. They couldn't even install new platform signs, or do a lot of other small things that should have been done.

I wish that in the Mid 90s they used the old South Kenwood branch as a new tie into the IC ROW via stations at Hyde Park, Museum Sci/Ind, U of Chicago, 63rd to run down to the South Chicago Branch of Metro to then have two branches albeit one more higher speed and serve an area the L has no reach. Slightly different that the Gray Line idea as this would better serve CTA's operational purposes.

Great Lakes Basin files plans to build new railroad, proposes new highway
 

Great Lakes Basin Transportation filed plans with the Surface Transportation Board on May 1 to build its bypass railroad. GLBT also released a proposal that covers not only the railroad, but also plans to construct a new toll road that mirrors the new rail line, as well as intentions to partner in a potential South Suburban Airport in Peotone. If the airport is built, GLBT would also build a massive new rail yard along the new rail line in Manteno, just south of the new airport.

http://i.imgur.com/c2vSbVI.jpg

From Progressive Railroading...

Link to GLBT
Link to STB's Environmental Impact Study Page
Link to STB's page regarding GLBT

^ This idea was first publicized a couple years ago, wasn't it. But on the map, "Daniel Burnham Expressway" is an oxymoron (to anyone who knows anything about him), and how is "Build" a noun? Also, someone not familiar with land transport in this country is calling the interstate highway system the "USA Freeway System", including the tollways. Is this a high school project or are its backers based in Guangzhou or somewhere? Hope they have fun getting lots of investor green cards while trying to build the "inaugural" and "ultimate" airport (in an era of waning hub relevance) in the middle of nowhere.

I don't know why people always project their modern philosophies onto Burnham. Two passages from The Plan of Chicago:

The rapidly increasing use of the automobile promises to carry on the good work begun by the bicycle in the days of its popularity in promoting good roads and reviving the roadside inn as a place of rest and refreshment....the pleasures of suburban life are brought within the reach of multitudes of people who formerly were condemned to pass their entire time in the city.
***
At the earliest possible date measures should be taken for beginning what may be termed the outer encircling highway [from Kenosha through McHenry, Marengo, De Kalb, Morris, Wilmington, Kankakee,] north through Valparaiso to Lake Michigan at Michigan City. . . .It is obvious that such a highway . . . would become a strong influence in the development of the social and material prosperity of each of the cities involved.

^ Yeah, but of course planners like Burnham totally underestimated the extent to which the auto would prompt wholesale and massive changes in American cities.

Burnham may have held high hopes about the automobile (from the vantage point of 1909) but he certainly didn't want the ultimate outcome of America's auto love affair - the center of the city becoming a hollowed-out, undesirable ghost of its 19th-century self, with sprawl running rampant.

Also, it seems odd to honor a man who had such detailed, grand and urbane ideas about the City of Chicago with... a highway that will run hundreds of miles through cornfields.

That's kind of what I thought the proponents of this plan were doing. Well I would not have guessed that in 1909 Burnham would have had any interest in, or even the opportunity to travel to and examine, the transportation needs of so many exurbs flung far across the compass rose. If you were going to picture Burnham planning infrastructure beyond the city you'd picture a couple commissions within certain suburbs convenient to the city by train but not a swath of unrelated burgs spanning 100 miles (distance Kenosha to 3K) of fields. Impressive.

But getting back to this expressway name: I do maintain that it's bizarre to honor a historical figure for an act of modest caliber that in some sense represents the opposite of the highly consequential oeuvres he's most celebrated for (organizing the civic and commercial and cultural spaces of the modern city, Chicago to D.C. and beyond, in addition to his individual buildings). If Mick Jagger had written a decent symphonic soundtrack to some documentary in the 1960s we would still never, say, name a classical music school after him today.

^ While I enjoy the philosophical dialogue above, make no mistake, this is a major threat to the core region. Expanding the boundaries of sprawl to 10-12 counties and with it drawing the logistics related jobs much further than the current inter-modal facilities in North Park, Cicero, Midway and a half dozen other locations in or very near the city boundaries.
Of course the surrounding-connecting highways and interstates will need expanding as well.

Most troubling is that this organization withdrew their EPA application a mere 2 months ago and apparently feel that under the current Politboro and neutered EPA they can go right to STB. And this buzz phrase of 'private funding' is complete bs as the plan relies on a massive amount of land grab via eminent domain. when they held their dog and pony show public meetings in the nether-lands thy were met with scorn and uproar by locals residents from beloit to belvidere to laporte. and several of the Class1 rr have made public statements that they will not participate, BNSF, UP have issued written statements and CN has its own bypass with the purchase and upgrade of the EJE.
Yet this somehow proceeds - regardless of the feedback from citizens, municipalities and the intended users...apparently without EPA review. best to keep an eye an this one and follow the money..lets see who IS for this? could it be 3 republican governors?

.double post

^I'm not as offended by this as you seem to be. More like cautiously optimistic.

It's true that, for 150 years, the city's lifeblood has been in transferring cargo and passengers from one mode to another. This proposal would allow freight rail to bypass the city entirely. I don't view it as a sprawl generator so much as a piece of infrastructure that could simply render much of Chicago's behemoth freight rail system irrelevant.

That may have spillover effects in terms of job displacement, but maybe we should view this as creative destruction rather than catastrophe. A Chicago with less freight traffic is a Chicago with room to expand commuter rail and public transportation, and perhaps a Chicago that doesn't require the multi-billion dollar CREATE project.

It's likely that any new railyards and logistical facilities built alongside this rail line will be highly automated, so they'll probably generate fewer jobs and less sprawl than you might think. Also, the path of this line will be far enough outside the bleeding edge of Chicago that any new growth will probably accrue to existing towns like Rockford, Rochelle and Kankakee... many of them places that are crying out for growth.

Metra $7.3m rehab of Healy Station underway
 

Metra, Arroyo break ground on Healy Station renovation
(May 8, 2017) -
Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno joined State Rep. Luis Arroyo, Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, Ald. Milly Santiago (31st) and other officials today to break ground on a $7.3 million renovation of the Healy Station on the Milwaukee North Line.

“We’re happy to be able to invest in this community and create a modern, appealing and comfortable station that will better serve existing customers and attract new ones,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “I would like to thank Representative Arroyo for being a tireless and passionate advocate for the renovation of this facility.”

“One of my top priorities is to bring job opportunities to our community and improve access to public transportation,” Arroyo said. “This renovation project will not only expand economic opportunity in our neighborhood but it will also provide a safe and revamped train station that will better serve riders and improve access to other services like the CTA.”

“This renovation project for the Healy Metra Station is a clear example that when we work together with other elected officials in different branches of government, positive results can be accomplished on common issues that we share with the people that we represent,” Santiago said. “I want to thank State Representative Luis Arroyo for his leadership in making this renovation project a reality. This will ensure that our riders will not only be better served but will also feel safer at all times.”

The project includes the removal of the existing platforms, shelters, structural steel, ramps, stairs and railings and the construction of new platforms, shelters with on-demand heat, canopies, retaining walls, ramps (including a ramp to the outbound platform), stairs, LED lighting, gutters and storm sewer system. It also includes painting and waterproofing the adjoining rail bridge over Fullerton Avenue. The station will be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The work, which is being funding by Metra’s share of proceeds from the state bond program, is expected to take about one year to complete. The station will remain open during construction. The contract for the work was awarded to John Burns Construction Company of Orland Park, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

The Healy Station, at 4014 W. Fullerton, is used by about 325 passengers each weekday. It is served by 24 inbound and 24 outbound trains each weekday.

^ Amazing just how underutilized transit is in the US. There should be about 10-20 times the number of riders at that station.

Maybe the station would have higher ridership if the trains came more often than hourly. That's an average wait time of 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes on the train to downtown. With Metra's paltry frequencies, taking CTA is almost always faster, and probably gets you closer to your final destination.

The only time urban Metra stations get significant ridership is after the CTA options have become uncomfortably crowded (as at Ravenswood).

Jeez, have you ever been there? I am surprised that the boardings are that high.

The station is an artifact from when Lyon Healy was out there. Back then it was an employment destination, but all those factories have been turned into self storage, discount houses and decorator supply stores. Not exactly powerhouses of employment or draws for transit oriented customers.

As an origin stop, the area is sparsely populated and it is a mile from the blue line station that has almost as many trains per rush hour than the MD-N has all day.

Good and bad news depending on which station you're close to

Metra Trains Would Stop In Hyde Park Every 20 Minutes Under New Plan
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...under-new-plan

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/3...af8c4fa5_b.jpgThe CTA Wilson station under construction by Steven Vance, on Flickr