Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Downtown
^Did you actually read the study? On what page does anyone say it would actually meet any kind of transport objective? From the executive summary: "The peers were not asked to assess the merits of the project per se, but rather to advise CTA regarding how best to protect CTA’s interests as the project advances." I particularly like this passage, from p. 11: "Little work has been done by the ONE Central team to date, to allow CTA to understand how an extension would impact the existing rail network or who would be utilizing the new line."
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This is a good point. It can't really be Green Line service, because then you have three South Side branches feeding into one West Side branch. The headways on the two existing branches are bad enough. Ideally you would have another North Side or West Side service running across the Loop and ending at One Central - either Pink, Brown or Purple.
Purple is my favorite - run express from Howard to Fullerton (with stops at Loyola, Wilson, Sheridan, Belmont) then into the State St subway, up the 13th St Incline and over to One Central. CTA is slowly putting in the infrastructure to make Purple into a real express train on the North Side, but eventually it will require CTA to run that service full-time and not just at rush hours.
Brown or Pink are possible, but that means running 3 services from Tower 12 to 16th on only 2 tracks. The last option is a shuttle train, but that requires a tail track at the other end somewhere to hold and turn the train. Not sure where you could put that, especially near downtown. No room at Roosevelt, Clark/Lake, etc. Maybe you could add a new service that goes One Central to Belmont via the State St Subway? I think there may be room to build a tail track at Belmont after the RPM work is completed.
Regardless of my weird crayoning, this is not a simple problem and it's not a pressing need. It should not be the CTA's highest priority for their limited dollars and planning resources, compared to other big needs like improving service to Fulton Market, downtown circulators, etc.