Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee
It is still very hard to reconcile how an agency would see the RLE as having more potential than a Brown Line subway connection to the Blue @ Jeff Park. The whole thing wreaks of political favor.
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Five years ago, the cost of Red Ahead was estimated to be $4.7 billion for RPM on the north side plus $2.3 billion for RLE on south side for $7 billion in total. $2 billion was funded in the final days of the Obama administration. Which leaves $5 billion remaining, plus a couple billion for cost increases.
For this you get a 50% increase in capacity on the north side mainline. In other words the Red, Brown and Purple lines will be able to deliver 50% more northsiders to their jobs downtown every day. Which is worth way way more than extending the Brown Line to Jeff Park.
Or put another way, I see the vast majority (say, 90%) of the benefits of Red Ahead (including RLE) going to riders on the north side.