CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Beta_Magellan]

From the posting for the meeting OrdoSeclorum linked to:

• Learn about CTA’s plan to spend over $160 million to transform Ashland by eliminating 50% of vehicles, all left turns and bicycles
• Hear Coalition’s plan to modernize Ashland bus services and maintain Ashland’s capacity for vehicles, buses and bicycles

I’m interested to see how this will develop—there were a couple of comments on Streetsblog bemoaning the lack of bicycle facilities and I’ve observed a lot of low-level hostility from cyclists for buses, which is understandable given that they compete for the right side of the road (and now funding for dedicated lanes). Cyclist hostility to transit is an issue in Portland.

Let’s look at the Grand Neighbor’s Association’s list of accomplishments. Accomplishment no. 1 is…

• Negotiated with developers to build (5) single family homes, instead of a large condo complex, which were more in keeping with the character of the neighborhood.

Good to know we have some real city people here.

[the urban politician]

^ The GNA is an absolutely toxic group of douchewads. If you visit their website they blatantly advocate for less density and more parking.

Too bad for them that condo and rental buildings are still going up everywhere in that area, although shitloads of frame 2 flats have been demo'd and replaced with expensive homes, creating even more NIMBY's in the process.

Eventually, like many other hoods, NIMBYism will reach intolerable levels like what you are seeing in Lincoln Park (where I am hearing they are about to hold a country music festival this weekend; I love it--a country music festival in an urban neighborhood). So developers, buy shit up and build what you can now, because the NIMBY shit-parade is about to close your operation down.

Regarding the Ashland BRT, I'm hoping that Rahm does what Rahm does best in this one and just ram-rods BRT down everybody's throats.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Eventually, like many other hoods, NIMBYism will reach intolerable levels like what you are seeing in Lincoln Park (where I am hearing they are about to hold a country music festival this weekend; I love it--a country music festival in an urban neighborhood).

Not entirely surprising as a large contingent of Lincoln Park residents are recent transplants from other parts of the (more rural) midwest...in other words, Big 10 corn towns.

Anyway,

CTA unveils artwork for Red Line north stations

edit: heres the renderings
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...5.photogallery

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Chicago29

He asked some questions and the discussion continues, no worries. Sometimes even the commonly known details of projects among people here are not easily found online. No need to be condescending.

The first question was answered in the article he quoted.

The second question wasn't so much a question, but rather a false statement easily corrected by reading the official CTA website.

This isn't kindergarten, and an easy way to avoid condescension is to fact-check oneself.

Do you really want to encourage people who seemingly want to lower the discussion to false claims about fares and don't read articles they are replying to? I don't.

[jpIllInoIs]

Looks like Lipinski is making a case for some CREATE Project money.
And he is focusing on the big projects: Rail/Rail and Rail/Road Grade Separations.

Rep Lipinski media release

06/10/2013

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-3), at a special House Rail Subcommittee meeting today on rail issues in Northeastern Illinois, touted the CREATE rail initiative as a model for a successful public-private partnership, but said larger projects, such as grade separations and rail flyover bridges, must be more of a priority going forward with the program. Joining Rep. Lipinski at the bipartisan hearing in Chicago were Rail Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-10), Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-1), Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13).

“CREATE has been a unique transportation success story by bringing the private and public sectors together in a historic partnership. I am committed to fighting for funding for larger projects in our region and nation to create jobs and provide relief to local residents from both rail and highway congestion,” Rep. Lipinski said. “Looking at the CREATE projects that have been completed so far, the greatest emphasis has been on smaller, rail-specific projects. There has been less progress on the larger projects that in my view represent CREATE's greatest benefit to the public.”

In 2005, Rep. Lipinski secured the first $100 million for the program, which is funded through contributions from federal, state and local governments, as well as the freight and commuter railroads.

Rep. Lipinski noted that of the seven projects in CREATE that would fix locations where passenger rail lines intersect, just one is completed. Of the 25 projects to separate spots where busy roads and rail lines cross, two are finished and four are under construction, with 12 having no funding whatsoever.

“I believe one way to refocus our priorities is to bring back the Projects of Regional and National Significance to identify those projects that are deserving of significant federal investment,” Lipinski said. “But we also require an increased commitment from the other CREATE partners, including local governments and the railroads themselves.”

Rep. Lipinski, the state's senior member on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, is one of 11 members on the new House Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation exploring ways to improve the movement of freight throughout the nation and create jobs. The panel will be offering a list of recommendations for consideration by the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee later this year.

[Kenmore]

Really liking the artwork for Argyle.

[K 22]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

Not entirely surprising as a large contingent of Lincoln Park residents are recent transplants from other parts of the (more rural) midwest...in other words, Big 10 corn towns.

Anyway,

CTA unveils artwork for Red Line north stations

edit: heres the renderings
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...5.photogallery

Granville's art I like the most. It has energy and life to it.

[ardecila]

The Argyle mosaic is cool. The rest is typical banal Arts-in-Transit stuff.

CTA's got some cool stuff around the system, though... It's about a 50/50 mix of cool and crappy. I like the sequined penis at Kimball or the sculptures at Cumberland and Rosemont. With space at a premium, there's really no room for sculptural pieces in the current new/renovated stations and so we get lots of mediocre 2d art. The words at Montrose (Brown) are pretty cool though.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

I like the Granville, Argyle, and Lawrence station artwork best. That Berwyn station artwork is just... awful.

I adore David Lee Csicsko's mosaics at the Belmont station...

[Baronvonellis]

I'm not sure about the lawrence one. Is it that one small piece of art glass? If so that pretty lame. You could find something like that at an antique store for $100 lol. Or are they going to put stuff like that up over the whole stairwell?

In berwyns defense it will be a mosiac of some really nice looking terra cotta pieces. Too bad the overall design look like a kindergartener drew a crappy picture of Chicago.

God speaking of bad murals though, you should see what they are putting up on Peterson in Sauganash. Pictures of people in business suits next to old pickup trucks from the 40's. Who drives in cars from the 40's? This is the 2013 it would be nice if it was something from this century.

[Busy Bee]

Heres a question, why does every transit station have to have an art installation? To uplift people's spirits? Isn't that what good architecture used to be for?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Heres a question, why does every transit station have to have an art installation? To uplift people's spirits? Isn't that what good architecture used to be for?

Because modernist & institutional architecture lacks any ornament, and since human beings still want to see something that is complex and detailed with which they can interact, artwork fills this void.

To ornament, as modernists believe, is to sin. To ornament, as most other humans believe, is necessary.

IMHO

[ardecila]

I don't have a problem with ornament necessarily. I do have a problem with art that gets hung up like wallpaper and has no relation to the design of the transit station. CTA even moves artwork semi-regularly, so all the work that these artists undertake to capture the "spirit of the neighborhood" is sunk when the Albany Park artwork is moved to Lakeview.

Anyway, most modernists are generally fine with art or ornament that is an extension of the architectural ideas. I've always liked the Concorde station in Paris, where the subway tiles are used as a grid of letters that spell out the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (France's version of the Bill of Rights). The artist took the architectural tradition of placing tiles in a grid and found a way to make a unique statement by commandeering that tradition.

artist statement

src

[ardecila]

Blue Line study could lead to overhaul
$1 million effort to explore revamp of Forest Park branch

...the Blue Line study, scheduled to be completed early next year, aims to help establish cost estimates and determine sources of funding for design, engineering and construction of...a project [like the current Red Line south branch project], which would be the first major reconstruction of the rail line since it opened as the Congress Line on June 22, 1958.

Stations, park-and-ride facilities and commuter access points that are difficult for pedestrians to navigate also will be examined, officials said.

"In addition to a basic modernization of the line, we are working with the city and with Oak Park to make sure pedestrian access to stations is improved,'' said Michael McLaughlin, CTA vice president of planning and federal affairs. "We want to make it a much more livable and enjoyable experience for people to get to the stations.''

For their part, officials at the CTA said its study will not look at extending the Forest Park Blue Line branch farther west, something that area public officials say would be helpful.

Interesting. The Blue Line's always been wrapped up in the Eisenhower expansion process but CTA has never had the resources to study their end of the project in detail.

Oak Park wants something like these, which may make sense at places in Chicago too.



'

[the urban politician]

^ Those 'commercial islands' so to speak would be a great idea not only in Oak Park, but throughout the city where the L runs in an expressway median. The nice thing is that they could potentially be privately financed.

[ehilton44]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Those 'commercial islands' so to speak would be a great idea not only in Oak Park, but throughout the city where the L runs in an expressway median. The nice thing is that they could potentially be privately financed.

One thing that I've always looked for is how the CTA could emulate the MTR in Hong Kong. In addition to rail service, MTR is a large property developer, specifically developing properties relating to rail. The revenues from these developments outstrip any revenue from fares.

I always day dreamed that if the CTA pursued the subway option for the north red line they could've developed the land above for a pretty nice revenue stream.

In addition to the commercial islands, the CTA can develop land under the L, similar to the Berlin S-Bahn. While there aren't a ton of prime locations for this a couple come to mind... Milwaukee and Leavitt on the Blue Line, Orleans on the Brown/Purple, and Wabash on the Green/Orange. But definitely, the commercial islands would be great.

[dennis1]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7595204.story

metra service needs to close the two hour gaps imo.

[Beta_Magellan]

Or, where it doesn’t operate on two-hour gaps, space their two trains-per-hour half-an-hour apart, not less than ten minutes (*sneeze*Metra Electric in Hype Park*sneeze*)

[Justin_Chicago]

Six tunnels hidden under Chicago’s Loop

http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-c...9s-loop-107791

[ardecila]

The dispute over Clifford is astonishingly vague in all the published accounts. I hope somebody like Ben Joravsky can shed some light on this.