[a chicago bearcat]

Sorry to jump back in the thread, but 2 pages ago nomarandee posted a circle line article

Quote:
Pitula opposes Circle Line plans that involve the Ashland corridor. Instead, he advocates for the improvement of bus services along Cicero Avenue. "It's cost-effective and flexible and allows you to provide public transportation for all," he said.
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

this reminded me of two things.

One the Cicero avenue line proposal I've seen in many places, sometimes proposed as a subway, sometimes proposed as a line in the rail ROW to the east. My experiences of Cicero driving made me think of this, because being stuck on a bus in traffic on Cicero is the only thing I could think of that would be more frustrating than taking the train all the way downtown to transfer to another line.

and secondly an idea that had struck me during discussions in Cincinnati about streetcars as a way of attracting development coupled with light rail transfer points along a line. Which is:

To develop a tram/streetcar line on the boulevard system.
Starting out as two 3-4mi lines,
1) Logan Square to Garfield Park (Blue to Green)
2) Science and Industry to Garfield Green Line (South Shore and Green)
eventually being expanded to one 20mi line. through the entire green belt.

I think of this, because the boulevards are greatly underutilized public spaces, with one way streets bordering them in opposing directions for most of the distance. As well as that they run through some neighborhoods that could use the investment, with minimal impact or cost. Two 3+ mile lines would cost the city around $300 million and not require utility relocation. They also exist in an area about equal in distance from the Circle Line as the Circle Line is from downtown other than the portion near UofC

anyway, looking for thoughts, I might make a map of what this would look like at some point, but only if there is actually any interest in me explaining the idea further.