Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
The Circle Line is tricky and would need to be routed very carefully to be successful. You might get Chicagoans to do a 2-seat rail trip but they will never do a 3-seat trip. That means the Circle Line itself needs to hit major destinations AND have interchanges with the other lines.
Problem is, the existing activity centers aren't always near the interchange points so the city would have to provide lots of rezoning and planning efforts. If the Circle Line meets the Green Line at Ashland/Lake, that means the city needs to lift the PMD restrictions around that area. Right now the center of gravity in Fulton Market is too far east for that to be convenient.
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I'm not transit planner, but I feel that BRT can provide most of the benefit of a circle line.
For me, what I'd love to see is a Clinton Street Subway and through-running trains through a West Loop Transportation Center
https://www.chicago-l.org/articles/ClintonSubway.html
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...hapter4_2a.pdf
...plus high quality BRT on LSD, Ashland and a couple E-W streets. That's my Chicago transit dream. Though obviously making the Red Line be all it can be should be job #1. We are so lucky that so much of our density lies in one long line along the lake. What we need now is to generally improve walkability and bikability and maximize the productivity and efficiency of the Central Area.