Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomguy34
Reestablishing the Division stop was mentioned at the meeting. The CTA's reasoning for not doing so is that the Brown/Purple lines are already overloaded by the time they get to Sedgewick. So until they can run at increased frequencies, likely not until the Belmont flyover is finished, the Division stop will not be reopened.
|
The Belmont flyover will be open next year (although the mainline rebuild will stretch out another few years) so if that truly is the constraining factor then CTA should feel free to start planning for a Division stop. These new stops take years to plan, design, and fund.
However, I believe the benefits of Belmont flyover will accrue mainly to Red Line trains. Brown and Purple are limited by the number of slots in the Loop, not necessarily by conflicts at Clark Junction. CTA has obscured this fact, because they have tried to build the strongest possible case for Federal support and because the Lakeview residents impacted by the project are more partial to Brown Line service than Red Line service (Becky: "ew, the
Red Line?!") The only way I see to increase service on Brown Line is to disentangle it with the Purple Line and take over those slots in the Loop, which means eliminating the Purple stops at Wellington, Diversey and Armitage and sending the Purple Line into the subway.
Long story short, if CTA is looking for additional capacity on Brown in order to build the Division stop then we might be waiting a very long time.