^Who, exactly, is making that argument?

Only $350m seems like pure fantasy, given that Wilson station alone is costing $200m.

Washington/Wabash
 

From Reilly's site, the Washington/Wabash stop construction begins today

"This will involve the closure of Wabash Ave. to vehicular traffic from Washington St. to Madison St. starting Monday, March 9th, 2015, lasting for approximately 18 months.

...The CTA Madison Street Elevated Station is set to close on March 16th, 2015 in order to begin the demolition of the existing station."

http://www.ward42chicago.com/MajorProjects.html

Nice, i am very excited about this station. I love the design and glad they are combining those 2 stations.

Well that seals the deal for me; Garcia's pandering for votes is now dangerous for the city's future prosperity. This is the key choke point for the 1st and 3rd busiest transit lines in the entire midsection of the country. Capacity cannot be added to these lines without a major rebuild of Clark Jct; except for building out all platforms on the red and brown for 10 car trains or purchasing articulated railcars; both of which will be more expensive than the flyover. Coming out flatly against this important concept which isn't even fully designed and flushed out with details yet is ignorant and reeks of trying to lock up up votes wherever he can find them; regardless of facts.

I was under the impression that the overwhelming majority of Red Line stations were already built for 10 car trains with a few exceptions on the far North side.

But yes, Chuy seems to just be pandering on every derisive topic out there.

^ No, just the State Street Subway. Fullerton and Belmont have the structure in place for a platform extension. Wilson will be built for 10 cars and I think Howard can do it as well. That's pretty much it.

Not even the Dan Ryan Branch? Cermak-Chinatown and Sox-35th for sure are 10 cars long.

That happened anyway though. How many factories are left in Chicago? Maybe industry would have hung on longer without free trade, but high property values drives industry out.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion, IMHO Rahm is USING the communities needs as an excuse to pad some rich Construction Guy's pockets, like Machiavelli's "The Prince" would do -- when vastly cheaper alternatives are available.

All that "Capacity Planning for the Future" official spin is just how Block 37 got built; and while additional capacity at Clark Jct. will surely be needed in the future, the flyover isn't the ONLY WAY ("spin") to do it: http://bit.ly/FlyoverSwitch And trying to make the affected property owners feel guilty and selfish about the situation, is right out of the Chapter that Rahm penned in "The Prince". $320M could do A LOT of other things in a lot of other Chicago places.

With Jesse Jackson Sr's (and Danny Davis's) endorsments, Rahm has already lost the election (the entire Black community HATES him, and will come out in droves -- "It's a Party - Hey Hey") so Chuy is not "pandering" -- He's earned that Faith in him.

South Lakefront Corridor Transit Study — Shame!
 

http://www.transportnotes.com/south-...t-study-shame/

Posted on March 8, 2015 by fbfree

In 2012 the Chicago Department of Transportation commissioned the South Lakefront Corridor Transit Study (“the report”) from 31st to 95th streets in response to very strong community interest in improving transit access, especially along the Metra Electric corridor. The report used dishonest assumptions to pan the idea of rapid transit service on the Metra Electric line, citing high capital and operational costs and low ridership......

Who says "dishonest assumption" were used????Metra Electric costs TOO MUCH for urban people on the south side. Whats why the people want a genuine CTA "L".

This was already reposted...."

Fact check: A flyover at Clark Jct has been looked at for a long time, long before Rahm even considered running for mayor. Its only recently that its being pushed for because CTA rail ridership is at historic highs.

Chuy is pandering to the NIMBYs upset at the concept plan, plain and simple.

And a bit of an overstatement saying the "entire black community" hates Rahm, don't ya think?

BTW, Clark Jct is not a "communities" need; its a city need. Red Line traverses nearly an entire cross section of the city. No new capacity for the Dan Ryan branch too as long as this choke point remains. Brown and Purple also cannot add capacity until this gets fixed. The system already backs up in Rush Hour because of it, in normal operations.

As I said Shawn, that is all politcal spin; Block 37 was a big "city need" also, we would lose ALL our Tourism without it, remember?

And like I keep mentioning Alex Clifford -- there is NO honesty in NE Illinois Politics about anything, so why should anybody believe anything they say?

That thing about Blacks hating Rahm is an understatement; are Blacks actually supposed to accept his explantion for F**King the Black community, and sign-up for 4 more years. Now explain to me (as a Black person) how he didn't actually F**K us, and that we just don't have the intelligence to understand he was doing what's best for us.

He, the Author (fbfree) says "dishonest assumptions" were used, and I agree with him 1,000% (I pulled my Blindfold off long ago)

And so how much would it cost to eliminate the unwanted MED, and replace it with a conventional CTA "L" along the same routes (please answer the question as stated). Estimate the cost David, since it's your idea.

Why you can't understand, to CANNOT REPLACE MED with a conventional CTA "L". I don't know why you can't understand that. Decals, engineer and conductors and trainmen, 1500 v. DC, etc etc. 15 years and counting. You can make a CTA like that.

How dare you tell me to estimate something. Your fantasy need a quick death. METRA and CTA have done that for 15 years.

I'm through. No more from me.

I don't understand it David because I don't think like you do; nor do I see things from your point of view, why can't you understand that?
Do you think a different City Administration is going to look at things the same way the present one does?

How DARE you tell me that my Project was included in the RTP not on it's own intrinsic merit, but because they needed a "Token Negro Project".

"Crabs-in-a-Barrel" means that one Black person JUST CANNOT STAND to see another Black person succeed in any way, and will do anything to derail them!

"No more from me." -- T H A N K GOD......

Garcia criticizes Ashland bus rapid transit plan
 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-...-not-done-deal

Posted: 03/11/2015, 08:29pm | Rosalind Rossi

Mayoral contender Jesus “Chuy” Garcia on Wednesday dumped on a city plan to run 16 miles of dedicated bus lanes down the center of Ashland Avenue just as CTA President Forrest Claypool insisted the proposal “was not a done deal”......

Ugh.

Chuy: "All the city's plans for transit expansion are garbage. Let's kill all of them, and remove the red light cameras to make it easier on all those poor suffering drivers."

That's one hell of an assumption to make. And yes, Chuy is totally pandering. If Rahm came out tomorrow and said that he was proposing a Gray Line along the lakefront you'd totally shoot your wad.

The black community (too many) were dumb enough to listen to the endorsements of clergy and what not back in the November generals and look how that turned out. There a governor in office who wants to cut funding to public transit.

I hardly think the black community will come out in droves to vote because they're too damn lazy to do so and I say this as an African-American. The most recent election was one of the lowest voter turnouts on record which is why when people complain, I can't seem to find the time to listen.

It was never Chuy's ambition to be mayor. He was thrust into the limelight because Lewis got sick and asked him to run. He has no plans and is just saying what people want to hear, unlike most politicians. At least Rahm has connections in D.C. and can actually get things done.