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

Jack Kelly Jun 13, 2021 8:29 PM

It'll be a rainbow of purple, brown, orange and green for the part of the L that green line uses in the loop.

Mister Uptempo Jun 15, 2021 2:24 AM

From metrarail.com -

Quote:

Metra plans service enhancements as ridership returns from pandemic
(June 9, 2021) -

With ridership steadily increasing from pandemic lows, Metra will be adding service to all of its lines starting in July and will introduce enhanced pilot schedules on four lines with more off-peak options to meet the post-COVID needs of riders. The new pilot schedules can be viewed here.

From a pandemic low of 3 percent of normal ridership in April 2020 and a plateau of around 10 percent for much of 2020, Metra ridership has been steadily rising since January 2021 and this week reached 17 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

New pilot schedules will start July 12 on the UP North, BNSF and Metra Electric lines and July 19 on the Rock Island Line. In response to riders’ evolving needs and global best practices, the pilot schedules step away from pre-pandemic schedules that prioritized peak rush-hour service in favor of a more balanced approach that spreads out the service to offer better off-peak options. The schedules also have been reimagined with more memorable timetables and service patterns.

==========

The pilot schedules for the four lines can be viewed here. On the remaining seven lines, Metra will be enhancing rush-hour service; those schedules will be posted over the next several weeks. On some of those lines – where the infrastructure allows it – Metra may introduce similar pilot schedules in the future.

jpIllInoIs Jul 1, 2021 3:12 AM

Chicago CREATE Lands $19.2 INFRA grant
 
CREATE Project GS9 Archer Avenue /Belt Railway grade separation

USDOT Selection
Project Description
The Illinois Department of Transportation will be awarded $19,137,780 to grade separate Archer Avenue
roadway and two existing Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) rail tracks. The project will reconstruct Archer Avenue
and lower it approximately 15 feet under a new rail bridge to serve the existing BRC tracks, add elevated
pedestrian and bicycle sidewalks under the rail bridge with lighting, relocate utilities, and install a combined
storm and sanitary sewer along Archer Ave with rehabilitated combined sewers adjacent to the project site

Randomguy34 Jul 9, 2021 5:49 AM

West Loop Metra station is happening, alderman says

https://urbanize.city/chicago/sites/...?itok=aNyUhpQM

Quote:

A long-rumored infill Metra rail station for the booming Fulton Market District could be constructed just west of Odgen Avenue—that is if funding can be found.

New details on the transit project emerged at a virtual community meeting to discuss a 19-story life science development slated for nearby 400 N. Elizabeth Street. Chicago developer Mark Goodman said the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) requested his building include a pedestrian greenway along a vacated stretch of Kinzie Street to connect to the future station, which would be located on the opposite side of Ogden in between the two sets of Union Pacific tracks.

"They have designed—and they asked us not to share the rendering, but I can describe it—a platform that runs from Ogden all the way to Ashland so that the Metra station could connect with the CTA line at Ashland," Goodman said. "I think would be a very positive benefit for the community."
https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/w...n-ogden-kinzie

ardecila Jul 9, 2021 2:31 PM

Will be interesting to see the rendering, if is ever made public. Metra has been planning a flyover at the A-2 interlocking which would also be in this general location... so there might be some kind of long new viaduct involved as well. Both projects are pretty well linked together.

Also noteworthy that they specified Union Pacific. Maybe just an error but the UP tracks are actually harder to build station platforms - they sit on a narrow 4-track viaduct with no room to spare, and they are on a curve which presents problems for handicap accessibility. I always assumed the platforms would be for Milwaukee District trains (MD-W, MD-N, NCS) because those tracks are relatively straight and they have room in which to build. Also, the combined ridership of 3 Milwaukee District lines is higher than UP-W alone so it would be more useful. Of course, the ideal is a super-station where all four lines can stop...

OhioGuy Jul 9, 2021 3:00 PM

I wish the entire stretch could be put in a subway from Ogden to Canal. As that area continues to grow & evolve, having multiple heavy rail tracks at ground level doesn't seem very fitting for an ideal pedestrian environment. Either elevate (like the tracks a block or two north) or submerge. And it ensures Metra service will continue to operate slowly through this area due to the multiple at-grade crossings.

ardecila Jul 9, 2021 3:08 PM

^ I have long wished for an elevated viaduct through West Loop for the Milwaukee District and Amtrak. A modern concrete structure would look nice and would open up the ground level for a trail and park/plaza space. Toronto is doing something like this at the Davenport Diamond - that is a mirror finish on the sound walls to make the viaduct appear thinner.

Busy Bee Jul 9, 2021 3:34 PM

edit

aaron38 Jul 16, 2021 1:44 AM

How does a platform from Ogden to Ashland connect to the Green line that is a full six blocks south? Or do they only mean the Ashland bus?

ardecila Jul 16, 2021 5:18 PM

I think they just menat you could get off at Ashland and walk down to the Green Line. It's not really 6 blocks, it's under 1/4 mile... not that that stretch of Ashland is very pedestrian-friendly, but maybe it will be in a decade or two.

clark wellington Jul 17, 2021 7:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9342000)
I think they just menat you could get off at Ashland and walk down to the Green Line. It's not really 6 blocks, it's under 1/4 mile... not that that stretch of Ashland is very pedestrian-friendly, but maybe it will be in a decade or two.

I mean, I think it’s actually decently ped-friendly. Wide enough sidewalks, historical buildings largely intact. It’s just not interesting yet since there isn’t much active use at ground level. That seems pretty fixable as the Greater Fulton Market District (TM) continues to march west

Klippenstein Jul 17, 2021 3:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs (Post 9328110)
CREATE Project GS9 Archer Avenue /Belt Railway grade separation

USDOT Selection
Project Description
The Illinois Department of Transportation will be awarded $19,137,780 to grade separate Archer Avenue
roadway and two existing Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) rail tracks. The project will reconstruct Archer Avenue
and lower it approximately 15 feet under a new rail bridge to serve the existing BRC tracks, add elevated
pedestrian and bicycle sidewalks under the rail bridge with lighting, relocate utilities, and install a combined
storm and sanitary sewer along Archer Ave with rehabilitated combined sewers adjacent to the project site

If this is the rail line that I think it is, they need to do that all the way down the line. As novel as it is to wait for the train on the way to Midway, this is a great step and definitely needs to happen at 55th, 63rd and all the other crossings.

the urban politician Jul 18, 2021 1:23 PM

Pete Buttegieg plugging the Red Line extension to 130th, according to the Tribune

ardecila Jul 18, 2021 5:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klippenstein (Post 9342692)
If this is the rail line that I think it is, they need to do that all the way down the line. As novel as it is to wait for the train on the way to Midway, this is a great step and definitely needs to happen at 55th, 63rd and all the other crossings.

CREATE has prioritized the line running west from 55th Junction for grade separations. They have planned an underpass at Central/54th and an overpass at 65th/Harlem.

The crossings at 55th/Kenton, 63rd/Kolmar and Marquette/Kolmar are not being pursued at this time, since they don't have the same (auto/truck) traffic volumes.

Busy Bee Jul 18, 2021 6:21 PM

^Underpasses/Overpasses being rail or auto?

Interestingly this is the r-o-w I've always daydreamed about running rapid transit down to Worth.

Mister Uptempo Jul 18, 2021 9:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee (Post 9343298)
^Underpasses/Overpasses being rail or auto?

Interestingly this is the r-o-w I've always daydreamed about running rapid transit down to Worth.

Could you possibly elaborate, please? Not sure what you have in mind.

Are you talking about the North-South leg of the proposed Lime Line extended on the South end along the Southwest Service tracks to Worth?

ardecila Jul 18, 2021 9:58 PM

These projects almost never change the grade of the rail line; the road is either elevated or depressed to form the grade separation. At the scale of a single grade separation, it seems to be cheaper in almost every case to change the grade of the road. When there are multiple crossings in a row being eliminated, the economics usually favor an earthen embankment or trench for the rail line, or occasionally a viaduct on structure.

Central Ave at BRC (this design sucks, hopefully they have redesigned it in the 7 years since the last update):
http://centralbrc.org/downloads/

Harlem at 63rd/65th/BRC:
http://www.il43study.org/documents/

Randomguy34 Jul 18, 2021 10:30 PM

Coverage and renderings of the project:

CREATE partners unveil details of Archer, BRC grade separation
https://www.progressiverailroading.c...721-ARCHER.jpg
https://www.progressiverailroading.c...aration--63986

Klippenstein Jul 24, 2021 3:54 AM

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...tegicplan.html

Quote:

The Chicago Department of Transportation has released a Strategic Plan for Transportation, the nation’s first urban transportation plan developed in the wake of the pandemic, economic, and racial justice crises of 2020. This is an organizational strategic plan with the participation of CDOT staff at all levels and from all divisions, sister agencies, and departments. The Transportation Equity Network (TEN), a coalition of community groups and civic organizations who advocate to embed racial equity and mobility justice in transportation decision-making and investments, partnered with the City to ensure that the Strategic Plan for Transportation and was centered around the lived experience of Chicagoans and addressed long-standing issues related to equity in the transportation system.

The four key pillars of this plan are: Access to Opportunity, Aligning Our Streets with Our Values, Streets Free from Violence, and A CDOT That Works. These pillars provide a framework in which 21 goals, 84 strategies, and hundreds of benchmarks are laid out in one- and three-year increments to chart a course toward building safer streets; reprioritizing transportation projects to increase access to opportunities for residents in historically neglected neighborhoods; working with CTA and regional transit agencies to expand public transportation access; creating safer streets and crosswalks to encourage walking; and expanding bike share, bike lanes, and dedicated bus lanes citywide. It also includes six Equity Challenges* posed by the Transportation Equity Network with the goals and strategies that CDOT has committed to in order to meet these challenges.

M II A II R II K Aug 5, 2021 5:23 PM

A closer look at CDOT’s plan to close Chicago’s transportation equity gap

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2021/08/...on-equity-gap/

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...ortation21.pdf

Quote:

....

- Last week, the Chicago Department of Transportation released an ambitious, 80-plus page Strategic Plan for Transportation created with input from the Transportation Equity Network, a coalition of 30 civic, community and transportation advocacy organizations, plus help from former New York City transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who served as a consultant. The plan, drafted in the height of the pandemic, sets equity and mobility justice as a guiding star and outlines how CDOT can deploy resources to address safety, health, accessibility and environmental concerns for parts of the city most in need, setting one- and three-year benchmarks on dozens of goals. --- A consistent theme through the document is prioritizing neighborhoods on the South, West and Northwest sides most affected by disinvestment, limited transportation options, higher crash rates, long commute times, and higher levels of pollution. Heat maps in the introduction of the document show that transportation costs as a percent of income are highest in the areas of the city where commute times are the longest – a one-two punch of inconvenience and expense for broad swaths of the city.

.....



https://i1.wp.com/chi.streetsblog.or...ng?w=960&h=317




https://i0.wp.com/chi.streetsblog.or...ng?w=983&h=387


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