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Originally Posted by left of center
Hrm. I assume CSX would not be willing to give up any space/trackage from its ROW in that section of 290 either.
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I'm not sure. Chicago is the interface point between western railroads and eastern railroads, and the Altenheim Sub is what allows CSX to do the interchange without using somebody else's tracks and paying trackage fees to another Class I, or loading all the cargo into trucks just to go 10 miles. Specifically CSX picks up cars from CN/CP yards around O'Hare and takes them to their own yards on the South Side to be hauled to points east or the East Coast. I'm reluctant to encourage the abandonment of the Altenheim Sub if it means that cargo gets loaded onto trucks to go across town instead.
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Originally Posted by Busy Bee
How awesome would a Congress Line extension to Mannheim Road at the Bellwood/Hillside border be? The Eisenhower has the row to widen to 8 lanes, even with accomidating westbound ramps, by shifting the centerpoont south easily creating an easement for a 2 track line west from the current Forest Park terminal tail tracks to Mannheim. The large open land on the west side of Mannheim could also hold a new yard and a sizable park/ride facility. Possible intermittent stations at 1st Ave and 25th Ave. Rush period trains could potentially run express on a 4-track row to and from Halsted to Austin drastically speeding service for western end riders.
Sure seems like this should be part of the conversation.
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It is. The new section of Eisenhower through Maywood/Bellwood will be built for transit in the median. I'm not sure why they're not just doing a grassy median like other expressways built for future transit lines (Bishop Ford, I-57) but it is being future-proofed for a transit line regardless. The rendering shows buses but rail is also under consideration.
This isn't traditionally part of CTA's service area, so they'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming into it for a rail extension. Not sure what the prospects are for ridership, but it's a long slow journey into downtown or the IMD. A bus project would be worse though with the forced transfer.