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  #201  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2006, 5:03 AM
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Originally Posted by BVictor1
Kick ass, I hate that old bridge when I drive home. But, they should save the old bridge for Daley's bike paths, it would make a great river crossing for the bike trails.
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  #202  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2006, 5:11 AM
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Are these projects still alive???




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And I thought these were cool!!! The NEW Dan Ryan








Last edited by Chicago2020; Jun 18, 2006 at 5:33 AM.
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  #203  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2006, 2:55 PM
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^doubt it, they need that land to add more lanes of traffic, congestion, and pollution. viva l car.
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  #204  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2006, 3:09 PM
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This might be a little off-topic, but interesting to know

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...l=chi-news-hed

How Hastert benefited from sale
Planned highway could sweeten asset near Plano


By James Kimberly and Andrew Zajac, Tribune staff reporters. James Kimberly reported from Chicago and Andrew Zajac from Washington; Tribune staff reporters Mike Dorning and Ray Gibson contributed to t
Published June 18, 2006

The complex structure of a real estate transaction in Kendall County last December left House Speaker Dennis Hastert with a seven-figure profit and in prime position to reap further benefits as the exurban region west of Chicago continues its prairie-fire growth boosted by a Hastert-backed federally funded proposed highway.

Instead of cash, Hastert (R-Ill.) took most of his share of the proceeds in land, some of it less than 2 miles from the parcels he and two partners in a land trust sold for nearly $5 million to a developer who plans to build more than 1,500 homes and commercial space on the property near Little Rock and Galena roads in Plano.

Hastert received five-eighths of the proceeds of the sale, which worked out to a profit of more than $1.5 million for him on property that he and his partners accumulated in a little more than three years.

.....

Proposed Prairie Parkway

Karpus downplayed the impact of the proposed Prairie Parkway, which would run north and south through Kendall County, noting that property prices began rising well before the proposed highway became a serious planning issue. The proposed road is designed to connect Interstate Highways 80 and 88.

Mandel Manion, who has sold real estate in the Plano area since 1991, said the market for farmland really took off in the last year and a half.

Manion said farmers tell her that developers knock on their doors unsolicited and offer to buy their land for $35,000 to $40,000 an acre.

"Maybe the Prairie Parkway has something to do with it, I don't know," Manion said. "I would guess it probably doesn't hurt."

Hastert's family paid $11,000 per acre in 2002 for some of the land he and his partners subsequently sold in December for $36,000 per acre.

The speaker has long been a staunch supporter of the proposed Prairie Parkway and helped secure more than $200million in federal funding through an earmark in federal transportation legislation last year.

Hastert press secretary Ron Bonjean said it is wrong to think that the speaker's backing of the parkway could positively affect his property investments because they are 5 miles from the proposed path of the highway. "It's too far away to have an effect," Bonjean said, adding, "The speaker has bought land like every American has a right to. . . . He is not benefiting from the parkway."

Jan Strasma, chairman of Citizens Against the Sprawlway, which opposes the parkway, disputed Bonjean's reasoning.

"People don't want to live next to the expressway," Strasma said. "They want to live several miles away with easy access.

"If this were some other individual who wasn't in a position of power and influence you would say, `Gee, they were smart, they made some money,'" Strasma said. "In this case it just doesn't look right."

If the Kendall County Board gets its way, residents of the development would have quick access to the parkway via an interchange at Galena Road.

The board last month passed a resolution calling for the construction of an interchange there, although county officials say they don't have the money to pay for it.

County Engineer Francis Klaas said an interchange would not be built unless the state, the federal government or a private developer put up the money. The state of Illinois has said it has no plans to provide highway access at Galena Road.
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  #205  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2006, 4:13 PM
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^ Hastert's an ass.

I have no interest in a dirty scumbag whose sole purpose in life is to promote sprawl for his selfish, wasteful constituency.
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  #206  
Old Posted Jun 19, 2006, 12:26 AM
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  #207  
Old Posted Jun 19, 2006, 6:06 PM
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I've also been wondering about the status of all those pedestrian bridges that were presented about 1 and 1/2 years ago--I was really impressed with all of them.

BTW, this new "bike-friendly" plan by Daley is more than just a little speech. It's a pretty detailed plan. If you're interested, here's the link:

http://www.bike2015plan.org/
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  #208  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2006, 10:24 AM
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Prarie Parkway? More like the Hastert Honorary Highway. If they build it, they need to stop nearby development, which they are most certainly not doing. The bastard is disgraceful.
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  #209  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2006, 3:00 PM
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Prairie Parkway is egregious pork, not quite on the magnitude of the Bridge to Nowhere or its bastard son the Railroad to Nowhere, but it's bad news.
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  #210  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2006, 11:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago2020
Are these projects still alive???




--------------------------------------------------------------------
And I thought these were cool!!! The NEW Dan Ryan








I work for CDOT, and work with the process of pre construction for all transportation projects. I have a spreadsheet that has all projects (there must be about 100) over the next two years. I just focus on what is current, so I havent paid alot of attention to future projects.

35th over LSD sounds very famaliar, so does 67th street.

Last edited by LA21st; Jun 21, 2006 at 11:55 PM.
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  #211  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2006, 11:37 PM
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^ So whats the scoop on this stuff?
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  #212  
Old Posted Jun 23, 2006, 5:36 PM
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From todays Trib

Pink Line is ready, even if riders aren't

By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 23, 2006


With signs posted at elevated train stations, pink stripes painted on support columns and motormen trained on the new route, the Chicago Transit Authority is ready for the Sunday launch of the Pink Line, its first new rail service since the Orange Line's debut in 1993.

Days before the rail route's inaugural run, however, many riders were scratching their heads, trying to figure out where the Pink Line will take them and whether it will lengthen or shorten their commute. Some hadn't been able to get schedule information; others fretted about how disabled riders will transfer to the Red Line.

Some knew nothing at all about the new "L" line, despite radio ads, posters on buses and signs in stations.

"There's still a lot of people who don't realize what this is," said Michael Pitula, public transit organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, which opposes the line and has been passing out "Pink Stinks" fliers on trains. "I've met a lot of riders who think the CTA is just changing the Blue Line to a new color."

Wince Collins, a 29-year-old West Side resident who uses the Blue Line's Forest Park branch to get to his North Side retail job, is excited about the change, which will increase service on his branch of the Blue Line. The extra trains should reduce his waiting time for a train to 7 or 8 minutes from 15.

Shalini Gupta, 36, worries that the changes will lengthen her trip between her job at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Union Station, where she typically boards a Metra train to Aurora after taking the 54/Cermak branch from Polk Street to Clinton Street.

Such is the debate that has circled the Pink Line since last winter, when the CTA board approved a 180-day test to reroute the 54/Cermak branch, formerly called the Douglas branch, along the Paulina Connector. The recently rehabilitated stretch of track was last used for passenger service in the 1950s when the Douglas branch traveled on it.

Although CTA officials say the Pink Line will improve rail service dramatically to the West Side, Southwest Side and western suburbs, Pitula and other activists say the route change will make it more difficult for riders who are used to a direct trip to places such as O'Hare International Airport.

Under the plan, the vast majority of trains that travel along the Cermak corridor will no longer join the Blue Line's Forest Park branch at the Eisenhower Expressway, head east into the Loop and out to the airport. Instead, they will head north to Lake Street, joining the Green Line and turning east into the Loop on elevated tracks. After circling the Loop, they will return on the same route.

The exception will be 18 inbound and 18 outbound weekday Blue Line trains that will continue on the existing 54/Cermak branch route. Those trains will run every half-hour weekdays from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 2:25 to 6:30 p.m. but will not run on weekends.

The addition of the Pink Line will enable the CTA to increase the number of weekday peak trains on the corridor, cutting waiting time to 7 1/2 minutes from 10 to 15 minutes. During non-peak hours and weekends, trains will run every 10 to 15 minutes, down from 15 to 20 minutes.

Weekday peak service on the Forest Park branch also will improve, cutting waiting times to 7 1/2 minutes from 15 minutes. During weekends and non-peak weekdays, trains will run every 7 1/2 to 10 minutes, down from 15 to 20 minutes.

Though the number of trains will increase on the Pink Line, the CTA intends to run trains with four cars, rather than eight, during rush hours, CTA spokeswoman Sheila Gregory said. That could result in crowded cars during rush hour.

Riders such as Gupta who want to go to the Racine, UIC-Halsted or Clinton stops from the Pink Line will have to transfer to a bus at Polk or transfer to a Forest Park train in the Loop. Catching a 54/Cermak branch train during peak times is another option, but Gupta worries about the infrequency of those trains. If she misses one, she must wait another 30 minutes and likely miss her connection with Metra.

"That's dicey," said Gupta, who tried in vain to get a new train schedule Monday at the Polk Street station.

In fact, detailed schedule information has been hard to find, posing a problem for Juana Sanchez, an office assistant to Ald. George Cardenas (12th), who has received calls from students wondering how they will get to UIC and other places.

"We don't have the routes and the information, so we don't even really know what to tell them," she said.

The Little Village group is concerned about increased travel times for Pink Line riders who want to get to the UIC-Halsted, Racine or Clinton stops or to O'Hare.

"How is it an improvement to substitute a train that only goes downtown in place of one that goes direct all the way to the airport?" Pitula said.

CTA officials said riders can transfer at the Clark/Lake stop, which they will reach 10 minutes faster on the Pink Line. Fewer than 2 percent of daily 54/Cermak riders travel between any of the 11 stations on the 54/Cermak branch and O'Hare, officials said.

Although some riders are concerned that the Pink Line will jam up the Loop system, CTA officials say computer models show there's enough capacity to run the trains on tracks now used by the Orange, Purple and Green Lines.

Others worry about people with disabilities, who now can transfer to the Red Line through a tunnel at the Jackson Street station without going outdoors. Pink Line riders who want to transfer to the Red Line will have to travel to the Library stop, leave the station and board the Red Line at the Jackson stop, said Kevin Irvine, transportation advocate for Equip for Equality. Another option, which requires an extra transfer, is to switch to the Blue Line at Clark/Lake, ride it to Jackson and transfer to the Red Line.

Some riders, including Maria Jamison, 30, believe the changes will improve their commute. Jamison now takes the 54/Cermak branch from Polk Street to the Brown Line at Clark/Lake. By CTA estimates, taking the Pink Line should get her to Clark/Lake 10 minutes quicker.

"I would be surprised if it makes my commute longer," she said.
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  #213  
Old Posted Jul 4, 2006, 8:45 AM
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Amtrak sees return of Rockford passenger trains

most will not effect most here but some of those in Rockford might


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...l=chi-news-hed


Amtrak sees return of Rockford passenger trains

By Liam Ford
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 3, 2006, 8:12 PM CDT


ROCKFORD -- With momentum building to expand passenger rail service in Illinois, opening a train line between Chicago and Rockford is more a question of when than if, a senior Amtrak official said Monday.

A vote by legislators last spring to double funding for Amtrak's state-subsidized lines in the 2007 Illinois budget provides financial support to restore rail service that last ran in 1981, officials said.

"If you guys want the service, it's not, Should we do it? It is, What are the next steps we need to do to get it done?" Joe McHugh, Amtrak's senior vice president for governmental affairs, said after a town hall-style meeting at the Rockford airport of backers of reopening the route.

An analysis in late 2004 put the cost of creating a Metra line to Rockford at $89 million, with annual passenger ticket sales bringing in $1.6 million, still $1.7 million short of annual costs.

If Amtrak restarts the service, federal law requires it to make up any shortfalls in the cost of running the line with state subsidies.

Illinois Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin plans to move forward soon with a request to Amtrak to restart service.

Officials backing three competing plans to bring either Amtrak or Metra rail service to the Rockford area appeared ready Monday to let the two passenger railroads figure out the best way to move ahead.

The Black Hawk line once ran from Chicago to Elmhurst, then on to cities including Rockford, Galena and Dubuque, Iowa. Officials said Amtrak could use existing Canadian National tracks to restore service to Rockford.

Proposals for Metra service would either go to Rockford through Elgin and Belvidere or through DeKalb County and southern Winnebago County to the Rockford airport.

"We want to at least be able to put two or three options on the table, with everybody saying these appear to be the best—now let's test them against Amtrak standards and Metra standards and find out if they fit," said Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who organized the meeting at the airport with Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.).

Officials from several counties and cities that might benefit from the service spoke at the meeting. Some who have been backing particular proposals said they would be willing to work with others to make it happen.

"This community is ready to help make all of your jobs easier," Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey said, adding that the competing plans should be brought under one umbrella.

"We've been in meetings before where everyone is decrying everyone else's proposal," McHugh said. "The fact that your folks understand the need for regionalism, and you've got to sort of get started somewhere, somehow, and you take steps, I think that's very mature and appropriate for this type of discussion."

Manzullo said bringing rail service back will help keep the Rockford area economically viable.

"I can't think of any item that would do more to invigorate economic growth and vitality and interest in making people want to not just continue to live in Rockford and invest, but to have their children stay here, than to have the railroad come to Rockford," he said.

lford@tribune.com
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  #214  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2006, 5:02 PM
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^Great news and About time service is restored. Glad to see this moving into seroius planning stages now. Rockford's new mayor should be commended in his hard work in forging this ahead. He really is the beacon of light saving that stagnet city.
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  #215  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2006, 11:13 PM
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Yes, that is great news.
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  #216  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2006, 11:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LA21st
I work for CDOT, and work with the process of pre construction for all transportation projects. I have a spreadsheet that has all projects (there must be about 100) over the next two years. I just focus on what is current, so I havent paid alot of attention to future projects.

35th over LSD sounds very famaliar, so does 67th street.
Maybe the time to bring it up:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

Quote:
The city has secured about $6 million in federal funding to add a pedestrian bridge over South Lake Shore Drive at 41st Street and to design replacement bridges at 35th and 43rd Streets on the Drive, Steele said. The bridges, whose winning designs were selected from a CDOT-sponsored international competition, will be built over the next several years, he said.

In addition, plans are set to build a pedestrian and bicycle underpass beneath Solidarity Drive near the Adler Planetarium on the Museum Campus. All $11 million needed for the project has been acquired, Steele said.
Were you able to find anything out?
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  #217  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 5:41 AM
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Does anyone have a hold of any renderings and specs of the new Howard St. station? I saw a quick glance tonight and wanted to see details of the project, which apparently has already started. I didnt notice outside of the reconfiguration of the platform crew houses and didnt think twice about it.
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  #218  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 6:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SevenSevenThree
Does anyone have a hold of any renderings and specs of the new Howard St. station? I saw a quick glance tonight and wanted to see details of the project, which apparently has already started. I didnt notice outside of the reconfiguration of the platform crew houses and didnt think twice about it.
havent seen anything bid....there's a little one on the first page here:
http://www.transitchicago.com/news/m...onstupdate.pdf

Basically, totally rebuilt: new, wider platforms, handicap accessible, and I think 2 or even 3 entrances/exits in the general vicinity, smoother integration with the bus turnaround and parking garage, etc.
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  #219  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 6:27 AM
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Thank you kindly.

I hope larger renderings and details are released. I wonder why things arent more visible with this particular project. The station NEEDS this and will do wonders for commuters as well as just the overall appearance of the immediate area. Thats my neighborhood station and I cant wait until completion.
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  #220  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 5:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SevenSevenThree
Thank you kindly.

I hope larger renderings and details are released. I wonder why things arent more visible with this particular project. The station NEEDS this and will do wonders for commuters as well as just the overall appearance of the immediate area. Thats my neighborhood station and I cant wait until completion.
It will be nice, it'll be a huge project, I think about $50 million, lots of track reallignment going on to. It should be a very nice intermodal transit center by the end.

There are also plans for modest renovations to other Red Line stations on the far north side (replacing those rotting canopies, cleaning up the station entrances, etc.)

Now if they could just remove the slow zones on the north end of the red line so it doesnt take 50+ minutes to get downtown...
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