That or the powerful trucking lobby. Can't they just widen 294 or something?

Can anyone tell me why they want to expand I-190 to/from O'Hare? The amount of lanes it has seems fine to me. I've never gotten stuck in traffic on it, except when merging onto I-90 inbound. And that's not a I-190 problem, that's a I-90 problem (only 3 lanes both ways).

I think a lot of the work is being done on the interchanges as opposed to just adding lanes to 190.

Don't waste that group on Madigan - Daley, the toll authority, and the Belt line (owners of the ROW) have crushed his testicular fortitude already. We need that group to get more funding for the CTA.

294 does take care of through traffic through Chicagoland, but much of the traffic on the Dan Ryan/Kennedy is due to local industry. Believe it or not, but there is a shitload of factories/warehouses/intermodal facilities in the city, and they are generally concentrated around this Cicero corridor that 294 doesn't really affect.

You know 294 really is a HUGE tollway for how much it's always overlooked. You never hear anything about it for the most part, but it's basically Chicago's beltway for all through traffic going past Chicago. It's probably the only impression of chicago anyone would have who's just passing through to their destination.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/roe...eder28.article

In this Crosstown Classic, an unwise route leads to ruin

February 28, 2007
BY DAVID ROEDER Sun-Times Columnist

So House Speaker Michael Madigan wants to resurrect the Crosstown Expy., and Mayor Daley cheerily assents. Let's drive a stake through the heart of this idea right now. The sooner the Crosstown proposal dies, the better, because: • • A crosstown already is being built. It's called the Interstate 355 extension from I-55 to I-80. Together with the Tri-State, also crosstown-like in its route, it will serve the needs of truck traffic bypassing downtown. So what that it's in the suburbs and that the plan was hatched by a Republican governor whose pals got to share the contracting spoils? They did it first. Madigan should get over it.
• The last time the Crosstown was floated, it froze private investment along its proposed route near Cicero Avenue. Who in their right mind would invest to improve commercial property if the city was only going to take it anyway? The effects still can be seen on Cicero near Midway Airport, Madigan's electoral backyard and a stretch that only now is starting to get back on its feet.

I wrote a story on this area last May in which James Capraro, executive director of the Greater Southwest Development Corp., said: "The motels on Cicero didn't used to be fleabag. After the Crosstown was announced, they became fleabag." Does Daley want to reverse progress so long in coming?

• The route using the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago right-of-way sounds logical, but it isn't wide enough for a new highway and mass transit line without huge dislocation of homes and businesses. It's only 50 feet wide in some places. And the railroad isn't going anywhere.

Daley said he's not talking about tearing out homes and that the "railroad is consolidating a lot of land." In the real world, railroads here are struggling with traffic tieups and would add track capacity if they could. Timothy Coffey, general counsel at Belt Railway, declined to comment about the Crosstown but confirmed his line has no plans to sever one of its freight links at the request of politicians.
The mayor's grasp of this business is lacking. Despite his accomplishments as he sails toward his father's record tenure in office, he still has to answer for letting the CTA rot down to its railroad ties.

Capraro, by the way, said he's undecided about the new Crosstown plan. "Either way, you've got to do it or not do it and decide fairly quickly if you don't want the deterioration," he said. He also said he hasn't heard "the kind of rancor that we heard in 1972" when the idea previously came up.

Daley's Crosstown vision: trucks only, CTA line
Says project wouldn't displace homes

February 22, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND DAVE MCKINNEY Staff Reporters

Following Daniel Burnham's advice to "make no small plans," Mayor Daley said Wednesday he wants to revive and update his father's Crosstown Expressway dream by building a two-lane, truck-only route with a mass transit line down the middle.

"It's a great idea. Yes. It was a great idea in the '70s. That was the best time to build it. Now, I bet it costs 10 times as much," said Daley, who hopes to use the 2016 Summer Olympics as a catalyst to attract federal transportation funds.

"But you need public transportation with it. You have to be able to move people north and south. We don't move people north and south unless you go downtown -- by car or by public transit. That's what's wrong with the city."

One day after House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) put the Crosstown chip on the table in the game of legislative poker, Daley piled on with a more costly and elaborate proposal.

Madigan, who declined to take questions about his proposal Wednesday, wants to authorize the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to finance, build and operate a Crosstown Expressway. It would run along railroad rights-of-way -- near Cicero Avenue -- from the Kennedy/Edens junction south to 75th Street, then east to the Dan Ryan Expy.

Daley favors a two-lane, truck-only "freeway" -- with a mass transit line down the middle -- built on a platform to avoid displacing hundreds of homes and businesses in the Cicero Avenue corridor.

"We have a lot of railroad beds. The railroad is consolidating a lot of the land. That's what you really want to look at. We're not talking about displacing anybody. We're not [talking] about tearing anybody's homes down. It's a concept. We have a lot of railroad property going north and south. That's what we have to look at," Daley said.

"You have to eliminate trucks. Trucks is the major issue. One lane going north. One lane going south. That's all you need. And you have public transportation in the middle."

Gov. Blagojevich offered only a tepid response to the Madigan plan but stopped short of ruling it out.

"At this point, it's a concept, and there could be some merit here," Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. "We think it's worth exploring the idea."


Plan 'bordering on impossible'
Dave Schulz, director of Northwestern University's Infrastructure Technology Institute, said he "almost fell out of my chair" when he learned of Madigan's attempts to revive the Crosstown.
Schulz said the Crosstown is "undeniably" an expressway that "should have been built." That's evidenced by the fact that the northbound Dan Ryan approaching the Circle interchange "probably runs congested for 14, 16 hours a day," he said.

But there's also a political reality that is more true today than it was in 1979, when then-Mayor Jane Byrne, for whom Schulz once worked, killed the Crosstown.

"It would be extraordinarily difficult, bordering on impossible, to hack an expressway through that corridor, as much as I would welcome the transportation benefits. The social, engineering and environmental costs would just be huge. The environmental impact statement for that thing would take 15 years. I can't think of anyplace doing something like that in a developed city."

Whats next for Daley
 

I posted the complete article in General Developments thread but thought this also needed to be posted here.....

THE CTA

"Daley defended CTA President Frank Kruesi after a pair of aldermen called Chicago a world-class city with a "third-world transit system." But the mayor knows better than anybody that the time has come to remove his longest-serving adviser. Kruesi has made so many enemies in Springfield -- including powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan -- state lawmakers won't even think about helping the CTA until he's gone. Look for Kruesi to make the long-rumored move to the O'Hare Modernization Program and Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez to replace Kruesi at CTA, where she got her start. Kruesi's first job at O'Hare would be to persuade major airlines to finance Phase 2 of Daley's massive runway expansion plan."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

If this ends up being true what are the opinions of those who are more knowledgeable about the CTA of Fernandez taking over. Does she have what it takes to truely turn the CTA around?

I don't think even a two lane truck road could run along much of that route without displacing homes...you'd have to anchor the platform to something (what, straddling and hovering over the Belt way since the freight lines don’t want to give it up?), and that would logically be the property on either side which is mostly residential from Jefferson Park through Grand Ave on the North side. And where would the entry and exit ramps go?

As I truly despise David Roeder, it pains me to say that he seems to get what the issues are here. Also, in reference to Mr. Capraro’s comment about not hearing as much rancor as in 1972, I’d say that’s because, at least in my neck of the woods, people right now are really uninformed. When I asked some of my neighbors about this (who are one block East of the Belt Way), the majority hadn’t even heard about it let alone understood the possible consequences. And don’t assume it’s because they are generally uneducated people: sample careers of two of the uninformed – a lawyer for the IRS and an Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank. When it was explained to them, they did get it, and they weren’t too happy.

Give it some time – the rancor will grow as more concrete information becomes available…or not, depending on what Daley has in mind. It’s all been pretty vague up to this point.

That's a pretty ugly plan...sounds like it would create a huge scar on a recovering neighborhood. It would be much better to focus renovating and expaning the CTA.

Yeah, no demolition would be impossible, the ROW is just too narrow in Old Irving, hell there is not even an embankment left where the railways cuts through the new Old Irving Village development phases. There could be a viaduct over the railway, but it would also be hovering over backyards and perhaps even rooftops if they really try to avoid all demolition, which could cost an enormous amount of money and additional engineering work, making it unfeasable. If it was placed on a platform over the embankment, then essentially this will be a minimum of three or four stories tall, and will look hideous.

Yep. And as the Belt Way crosses the Metra tracks just South of Irving Park Road, I would assume a flyover of a great height would be needed anyway...unless they plan on moving those tracks too. Sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?

...and Lukecuj, please note that I did use the word 'despise' in reference to Mr. Roeder. I actually have a couple of other ways I refer to him also, but they are a bit on the crude side...and in Italian. You are totally right in what you say about his writing. I couldn't agree more.

More election related news. From crains...


Kruesi headed for exit at CTA?

(Crain’s) — City Hall sent a strong signal Wednesday that embattled Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Frank Kruesi may be leaving that post soon.

“In any administration, there are periods in which there is change. It’s no different with this administration,” Jacquelyn Heard, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s spokeswoman, replied when asked if Mr. Daley has someone else in mind to lead the CTA.

“The mayor’s attention has been focused on a lot of things including the election,” Ms. Heard added. “The election now is over.”

Political insiders for years have speculated on the future of Mr. Kruesi, who is one of Mr. Daley’s closest and oldest associates. But rumors have peaked in recent weeks as the CTA has struggled with a seemingly unending host of operational woes.
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In addition, the CTA is preparing to head to Springfield to seek more subsidies, but Mr. Kruesi has a rocky relationship with a key player there, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Ms. Heard said no final decision had been made about the CTA job, but flatly denied a Chicago Sun-Times report that Mr. Kruesi will get a new post as head of the city’s huge O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP). The runway expansion project has suffered from cost overruns and delays, but Ms. Heard said Mr. Kruesi is not going there to replace current OMP chief Rosemarie Andolino.

Insiders reported that the mayor has begun talking to a variety of transportation experts about the CTA job. Ms. Heard said she has no idea who might be considered for the post but denied it would be Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez, who “is doing a good job where she is.”

Mr. Kruesi and his spokeswoman were not available for comment.

^

The news at 6 just announced that Kruesi is OUT. Holla!!

It was released via Crains

One point about the Crosstown - from about Kinzie up to Montrose (Mayfair Junction) the Crosstown has an unused rail right-of-way. The Belt Ry. does not own this (Union Pacific does). However, Belt Ry. tracks do run parallel to the abandoned tracks for some portion.

This segment goes through Old Irving, Portage Park, etc. The space concerns in these neighborhoods will be resolved if the Crosstown can completely replace this rail line.

The dotted line represents this abandoned track.
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4...wnnorthmh4.jpg

Although I think the crosstown would be a good idea, I definitely like your idea much better. (MUCH better)

were only that true. daley vehemently denied reports of this.

I can't figure out where the dotted-line tracks are from your map. When you say Mayfair and Cragin, do you mean the Mayfair and Cragin Metra stops? If so, I can't find any track passage which connects them.

If I'm looking at a map, are these the tracks which run West of Kolmar Ave. between Montrose and Irving, crossing the Metra tracks South of Irving and continuing along Kenton Ave. to Fullerton?

Double post - sorry.

thanks for shitting all over my dreams

I only pray the OMP position is a complete fabrication. Like we need to fuck that up anymore?

Mayfair and Cragin are the names of rail crossings. Nearly every rail crossing in Chicago has a name. Sometimes they are named after neighborhoods, other times they have random names. Metra named these two stations after the major crossings they were near. The dots on the map refer to the crossings, not the stations.

The railroad map I based that diagram off of was made in 1915. It's almost completely accurate for today's rail network, except it shows some lines that have been abandoned. I removed those lines in Photoshop to update the map.

Yes.

That section is a wider ROW than most of the Belt ROW through the northside, but I don't think it does anything to resolve space concerns. The northern terminus will need to incorporate the merge with the Kennedy (and possibly the Edens as well), and if you look at the space taken up by any merge of expressways in the city that space is a speck compared to what will be needed (and don't forget that the plan also needs tollbooths). A massive area will need to be razed to accomodate the merge and tollbooths. I would suspect that it would even extend to south of this additional ROW.

Kruesi will not be fired until Daley has negotiated a good price for his head with the state. The firing of Kruesi is probably the best bargaining chip Daley has in getting more state money for the CTA, I hope he uses it wisely.

Have you been to this part of town lately? It's changed a tad since 1915. Hell, it’s changed more-than-a-tad since 1995.

Using a map from almost a century ago as a basis for an arguement, for some reason, reminds me of when the US military accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade… because they were using outdated maps. God knows that situation turned out well.

This is going to be a fight. Can't say that we'll win -- but expect a full-throttle war. We will not go gentle into that good night.

The point that the original poster of that map is making is this:

There are two railroad companies that have rights-of-way in the "crosstown corridor."

The Belt Railway owns tracks that extend from Midway (Marquette actually) to Grand. This is a heavily used railway, and is a very important regional transportation asset.

Union Pacific (former Chicago & Northwestern) owns track from Lake all the way to the Kennedy (Mayfair).These tracks are very lightly used (if at all). Google Maps shows us that the corridor is continuous, but the tracks are disconnected where there used to be an at-grade crossing across Metra's Milwaukee District West line. This crossing is marked as "Cragin" on the map. North of the Kennedy, it seems that Union Pacific's right-of-way curves northwest and heads to Evanston, but I don't know what's become of this stretch of the corridor, or if it's even being considered for the Crosstown line.

The two companies (UP and Belt) have corridors that are parallel and adjacent between Lake and Grand. Since Union Pacific doesn't seem to be using theirs very much, they might be convinced to sell it for a reasonable cost.

North of Lake, by using the U-P corridor, and leaving the Belt Ry. alone, Chicago could do the transitway with no further property acquisition. The truckway, who knows.

South of Lake, the options would be:
1. Negotiate to buy the corridor from Belt Ry. (Extremely expensive)
2. Pry the corridor from Belt Ry's hands through eminent domain (Not likely, and also extremely expensive)
3. Come to an agreement to Share the corridor with Belt Ry. The freight rails and a transit line might fit together with a reasonable amount of acquisition. This has been done in many places across the country. Throw in a truck freeway, and it gets uglier.
4. Use a different right-of-way.

Yes.... except that this map only shows railroads, and all of those railroads are STILL THERE, 92 years later.

As for the merge with the Kennedy/Edens - remember that this highway will not require very much in the way of merge ramps, since it will be one way each direction. Also, since it's a crosstown route, it probably won't have any ramps going to the Kennedy back towards downtown.

You know, the thought of mile after mile of backed-up semis up in the sky is not appealing whatsoever. The one lane each direction thing seems to be asking for trouble.

Sounds like current I-55.

Well what about just connecting the Stevenson to MDW for starters? It's only a mile and a half. It's sooo third-world to have a major airport connected to the city only by local roads.

:previous: Good point, I've always wondered why people are made to drive through dozens of stop lights just to get to Midway.

^ I've always found it easy to take Cicero to the expressway, but then I've only done it a few times

For first time visitors to the city, Midway does not make a great impression if you are driving into downtown. Enough said.

^I'm actually from Chicago (area). But coming from the south is a pain. 80 to a bit of 57, then Cicero for miles. Southwest Highway isn't much better because it's always torn up somewhere.

Cicero is easy, it just takes longer than it should, and sometimes unpredictable. Again, this is coming from the south - as much us hicks down here don't matter, haha.

Don't fly into LAX then! ;)

Some run the CTA but rarely ride it

"I think it is helpful if board members have an experience with the system. But every individual is different, and sometimes lifestyle doesn't fit into it," said CTA chairwoman Carole Brown, who rode the CTA 53 times in 2006 using her agency photo ID badge.

Link

seems like hilkevitch goes to bat for kruesi a bit. as for ms. brown, well ...

after reading the above quote, on top of the quote from a few weeks back on how she saw buses broken down whilst driving to work, whatever opinion i had of her hasn't been helped by her own ridiculous comments.

pretty infuriating article, that. does carole brown still have that blog where you can leave comments?

For all the shit people give Kruesi, he is one of the few at the CTA who consistently ride the system. Also, did you catch the passage in the article describing how Kruesi did away with the private car and driver previous heads of the CTA have had.

He may have made some missteps, and has done a poor job of managing springfield, but he is more of an in-touch leader than many make him out to be.

Taft

precisely. this shows brown and the board (no historical legal pun intended) to be out of touch. 'lifestyle'? if your 'lifestyle' doesn't involve using chicago public transit, maybe you should not be in a position as a decision-maker for that very transit system.

i also like how kruesi wears a bright yellow jacket, inviting attention, as well as making his staff where cta badges even though they were afraid they might get complaints. (of course they would! what do they live in a vacuum? plus you are in a major city, even if it was running well, people find things to bitch about, anyways ... )

in any event, for the love of god, someone sort something out, and get the L the funds it needs, and get it running efficiently again.

all that said, my morning commute from lincoln square to the loop was a breeze today.

Get back to us in a few weeks. ;)

Taft

Agreed. I understand the reasoning to remain incogneto to catch poor behavoir among bus drivers though. However, the numbers for some board members are pitiful. For the high salaries they make, they should be forced to take the system to work at least a majority of the time.

I myself have logged every single ride on the RTA system that I have taken since August 24, 2004. I consider it a low budget hobby, but also a physical representation of much my life revolves around the opperations of public transit. For example here is a sampeling of my train rides in 2006:

---------------Counted Rides -------Uncounted Transfers
Train Line.......(Turnstyle passes).....from other train lines.........Grand total

Blue Line..............427.........................18...............................445
Red Line...............52..........................27................................79
Purple Line............06..........................04................................10
Brown Line............36..........................05................................41
Orange Line...........04..........................05................................09
Yellow Line............02..........................02................................04
Pink Line
(Initiated 06-26-06)..05........................00................................05

Train Totals...........532........................61................................593

That does not even include buses in 2006.

On a side note in the last 2 months I have called in 3 customer comindations for great service that I experianced on buses.

^ Cool, Shawn. You've got me beat on the Yellow Line.

re: managers wearing badges, there was probably a bit of jest in that whole exchange, but it is seriously sort of a waste when a middle-manager doing some beaurocratic paper-pushing administration is constantly getting acosted by irate customers or operators with a concern about their schedule pick.

Hilkevitch with a zinger:
I think there's about 250 work days in a year (maybe a bit less for executive types who've built up alot of vacation time), so you can do the math on the number of daily rides from some of those people at the top of the list (about what to expect for a 2-leg trip each direction).

A sign of more cooporation to come between CTA and Metra?

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=24108
March 05, 2007
By Lorene Yue
Metra expands service to aid CTA riders
(Crain’s) — Metra will boost its Union Pacific North Line to give commuters an alternative in light of construction-related delays in the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated train service.

Starting April 2, three outbound and three inbound trains will be added to the weekday run of the UP-North, which runs between Kenosha, Wis., and Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago.

Those trains are scheduled to stop at the Clybourn, Ravenswood and Rogers Park stations in Chicago. In Evanston, the additional UP-North trains will stop at Main, Davis and Central streets.

In addition, more of the line’s regular trains will make those stops.

The changes add more than 1,000 Metra seats to accommodate regular CTA riders on the Red, Brown and Purple lines.

“Metra embraces the opportunity to welcome new riders to its UP-North route and assist commuters as the CTA expands capacity on its Brown Line,” Philip Pagano, Metra’s executive director, said in a statement. “Working together with the CTA, we can help minimize the disruption while encouraging the use of public transportation.”

Monthly passes cost between $52.65 and $82.35. Metra expects the higher number of riders to cover the cost of adding more trains and expanding service. Final service schedules should be published later this month, Metra said.

The additional service will continue indefinitely.

Nice! :cool:

Bob O'Neill sent me some renderings for the new Roosevelt Road Metra station.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5...bridgepoi9.jpg

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1...thstreesx5.jpg

The station will be built onto the recently-built pedestrian bridge, slightly north of the old station. I might suggest a better name for this station would be 11th Street, but I'm not in charge of such things.

Nice now, yet in 4 weeks it'll be a nightmare for the next 2+ years. If you're heading downtown for work, I guess it might be quicker to just head down Lawrence to the Ravenswood stop on the UP-N line. Might be a tad more expensive, but at least you won't have to put up with the sh*t that is soon to be Belmont to Fullerton.

Looks nice. Minimal, but modern.

It looks like the northmost end of the new platforms will be at the 11th street bridge. This would put their south end about at Roosevelt. Perhaps they're leaving the option open for a second entrance at Roosevelt (hence, they keep the name.)

Chicago-to-Rockford Amtrak service studied
 

From today's Chi Trib.

Tribune staff report
Published March 5, 2007, 8:22 PM CST
A new study evaluating the possible resumption of passenger trains from Chicago to Rockford and Dubuque reported Monday that travel times would not be any faster than driving, but the rail service would help reduce traffic congestion on highways.

The study, conducted by Amtrak at the request of Illinois transportation officials, also laid out preliminary cost estimates for the first time.

Up to $62 million would be needed to improve the railroad infrastructure, but that does not include costs for railcars, locomotives or stations, the study said.

Operating costs to run a single daily round trip between Chicago and Dubuque via Rockford were estimated at less than $5 million annually.

The study mentioned travel times of about two hours between Chicago and Rockford, and less than 4½ hours between Chicago and Dubuque.

It has been more than 25 years since the last passenger train service from Chicago through northwestern Illinois ended. Amtrak Black Hawk trains ran through Rockford and Freeport to Galena and Dubuque from 1974 to 1981 using the former Illinois Central route.

full story link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true

Metra to add service for reverse-commuters, CTA riders
 

Today Chi Trib


By Richard Wronski
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 5, 2007, 9:25 PM CST


Like many people who live in Chicago and work in the suburbs, Eric Rinehart likes to take public transportation to his job in Waukegan but feels hamstrung by a train schedule that favors city-bound commuters.

Come April 2, a new Metra schedule will help alleviate the plight of reverse commuters like Rinehart.
An early-morning line, dubbed the Sunrise Express, is expected to carry hundreds of Chicagoans a day to Waukegan and other Lake County communities early enough to be at work by 7 a.m., Metra and government officials announced Monday.

The new train also will give inbound commuters on Metra's Union Pacific North line an earlier run to downtown Chicago.

The unusually early inbound schedule will make it possible for early risers to be at their desks downtown by 6 a.m., officials said.

The Sunrise Express will be among six new trains daily on the UP North line, providing more than 1,000 more seats for Metra commuters, officials said.

The UP North trains also will help relieve pressure on CTA riders facing service reductions on the Red, Brown and Purple elevated train lines, officials said.

On the Sunrise Express, reverse commuters can get to work an hour earlier than the current Metra schedule allows. The line also begins to address a growing need caused by the growth of jobs in the collar counties.

"It's definitely something I would take advantage of," said Rinehart, 30, an assistant Lake County public defender.

The need for more reverse commuting options on public transit has grown substantially in recent years, experts said. Gone are the days when suburb-bound drivers faced open roads while expressways into the city were clogged.

From 1990 to 2000, the number of daily work trips from Lake County to Cook County grew from 83,000 to 84,000. But work trips from Cook County to Lake County rose more than 50 percent, from 40,000 to 64,000, according to U.S. census data.

A coalition of Lake County business, government and transportation organizations and leaders worked for two years to create the Sunrise Express, said state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest).

The train's $500,000 startup cost will be covered by a $250,000 federal grant and matching state funds.

The train is scheduled to leave Waukegan at 4:20 a.m. and arrive at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago at 5:23 a.m., officials said.

It then will reverse direction, leaving Chicago at 5:40 a.m. and arriving in Waukegan about 6:48 a.m. Currently, the first weekday train arrives in Waukegan at 7:55 a.m.

Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said the agency plans to add five additional weekday trains to the Union Pacific North line starting April 2 and insert new stops in North Side communities on five existing runs. Those schedules have not been announced.

The extra Metra trains will provide alternatives for CTA riders in April when work is scheduled to begin on the latest phase of the Brown Line reconstruction. The transit agency has warned of slower, more crowded conditions on Brown, Red and Purple Line Express trains through 2009 as it rebuilds the North Side elevated platforms between Belmont and Fullerton Avenues.

Pagano said that besides serving reverse commuters, the Sunrise Express would be Metra's answer to "the Wall Street scenario," with more Chicagoans in need of earlier transportation to get to their jobs in such professions as stock brokerage and commodities trading.

"We feel we're going to get a twofer out of this one train," Pagano said.

Stops will include Evanston, Highland Park and Lake Forest.

Besides downtown Waukegan, the seat of government for Lake County, major job centers include Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, and Abbott Laboratories and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago, officials said.

Bill Baltutis, executive director of the Transportation Management Association of Lake-Cook, said 16,000 Lake County workers at 22 companies already rely on Metra trains and Pace shuttles to get to work.

Anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent of these workers could benefit from the new train because of a trend toward an expanded workday, he said.

The Regional Transportation Authority's strategic plan calls for additional reverse-commute lines over the next several years on other Metra lines.

Story link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

yet he's managed to mess up the grand picture of things. Even tyrants do some good.

sorry, the system is crumbling and as long as he's the head of the CTA, adequate funding won't go our way (politicos dislike the man). He's a major problem for everyone who rides CTA at this stage of the game.