CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Eventually...Chicago]

with the new tie plates and conc. ties, will these have any effect on the smoothness of the ride?

Isn't there something that can be done with these ties to soften the bumps or is it more a factor of the rolling stock?

[Eventually...Chicago]

I was just wondering what everyone else's "snapshot" opinion was of the CTA the past 4-6 months.

Personally, i have noticed the buses i take are more consistent than a year ago with less bunching. Also, i seem to be riding fewer older busses (where the windows fly open when it turns)

I think the el has been much cleaner, although i really haven't noticed a difference in on-time performance. It still seems to be pretty volatile.

One thing that i think the CTA still fails it is overall station conditions. This could be related to the fact that i'm at the roosevelt stop, where when it gets warm the station still reeks of urine. I say they need to hose down that place once a week, my wife says they just need to stop peeing in the station, i think we're both right.

I think the bus tracking thing has been a great move along with the credit card kiosks, but the tracking needs to be expanded to include el trains so that way it can answer my question, "should i take the el or the bus?"

overall i give the CTA operational aspect in the past 4-6 months a 'B'.

[OhioGuy]

Is there much that can be done for the curve on the red line from Division onto State? The way the cars seem to "fight" the tracks in that area can produce some rather piercing whistles. And even when a train goes through that area without the ear splitting sounds, you can still feel the rather strong friction as the train scrapes over the tracks. Is the curve just too tight to ever have a smooth & quiet trip that doesn't crawl through the area?

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

Is there much that can be done for the curve on the red line from Division onto State? The way the cars seem to "fight" the tracks in that area can produce some rather piercing whistles. And even when a train goes through that area without the ear splitting sounds, you can still feel the rather strong friction as the train scrapes over the tracks. Is the curve just too tight to ever have a smooth & quiet trip that doesn't crawl through the area?

It just needs a thick new layer of track grease and the screeching will go away.

My guess is that they stripped off the grease during the tie work because they have to remove/replace the running rail every weekend, and the grease getting dragged along the tracks by the trains makes that more tedious. Either that, or they're just waiting to apply the periodic new layer of grease until after the work for similar reasons.

Those curves can handle 35mph speeds, though at that speed it's rather unpleasant for any riders who aren't pretty firmly planted.

[ArteVandelay]

There are grease machines in that curve that apply grease to the tracks, in order to lubricate the rails and reduce screeching. However, as was stated the subway work sometimes temporarily removes it, making the sound worse.

There's some irony here - the CTA is actually recently having this problem crop up more in all its curves. Its thought that the reason is the increased track maintainence / inspections / construction has reduced the "give" in the rails through these curves, which is of course a good thing for safety reasons. However, some of the trucks (wheels) on the older cars are not properly aligned, and the tighter track gage has dramatically increased the screeching. Long story short - the CTA needs more money to maintain and replace cars as well as the track in order to fully solve this problem.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I love how people who didn't even attend the meeting have made up mythical comments from nonexistent residents so they can complain about the NIMBYs.

I'm not aware of anything but feverish support for the idea of a South Loop Green Line station. The question to be resolved is whether it should be at 18th or at Cermak.

Put the station between the 2 and make an extra long platforn.

There, problem solved.

[Mr Downtown]

Harrison Street curve is even squealing under every train this weekend. I've never heard that before.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Eventually...Chicago

^^^ TUP, i really do think the "gang" mentality permeates even the good south side communities. They are so intent on protecting their turf that they turn away any potential connection with something outside their dominion. For example, most of the north side communities have made very little noise regarding potential venues and housing for the olympic games, yet most of the south side communities see this as an opportunity to leverage their power. I've worked on a few south side building projects and the only ones that make it with aldermanic approval are the ones that have a particular street organization or block group's blessing. They end up exerting their control so absolutely that any real dollars that could come in and revamp an area look elsewhere for the "low hanging fruit".

Many people in the southside communities are afraid of being pushed out due to gentrification and redevelopment. You have to respect that fear. There aren't that many vacant lots on the North Side as I'm sure you know. Unfortunately another problem is a lot of the people resent outside developers coming in to build. They think that black architects should design the structure and it should be built by a black developer with a construction loan from a black bank which is short sighted and contributed to the lack of development i.e. Dorthy Tillman. The main development has been done by church organizations.

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Put the station between the 2 and make an extra long platforn.

There, problem solved.

yes, now everyone complains !

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

^There are still a few slow zones between Addison and Jefferson Park, and I think the speed is still limited to 35mph around some of the special trackwork (e.g. crossovers). But the overall travel time from O'Hare to Clark/Lake is finally down to a respectable 41-44 minutes.

....ok, but can you say approximately when the O'hare line will finally be rid of the slow zones and other track repairs and we can just go (uninterrupted) from the Loop to O'hare ?

[jjk1103]

......they have been digging a huge hole under State & Washington (it was re-filled with concrete last night) ......I assume it has something to do with the superstation .......but can anyone fill in the details ?

[jjk1103]

...oh, also......they are finally removing that wall of construction trailers that have been sitting on State for the last three years....

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by jjk1103

....ok, but can you say approximately when the O'hare line will finally be rid of the slow zones and other track repairs and we can just go (uninterrupted) from the Loop to O'hare ?

I'd say the outright line cuts and slow zones will be totally done by the end of autumn (probably by Thanksgiving, give or take). The cab signaling project is supposed to wrap up sometime in Q1 or Q2 2009, so there might be some periodic late night single tracking until that's completed.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Many people in the southside communities are afraid of being pushed out due to gentrification and redevelopment. You have to respect that fear. There aren't that many vacant lots on the North Side as I'm sure you know.

Well that is only true if the northside is defined as everything north of the Hancock and East of the Red line. As soon as you get west of the Red Line there are oddles of open lots/parking lots...

The main development has been done by church organizations.

This is so true, I'm actually working on clearing the title on a lot owned by a church right now.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Well that is only true if the northside is defined as everything north of the Hancock and East of the Red line. As soon as you get west of the Red Line there are oddles of open lots/parking lots...
...

There are some, but it's not even close to be comparable with the South Side. Show me an area on the North Side that's anything like Kenwood or Bronzeville or around 63rd. There are certainly large parts of the South Side that are strong, cohesive neighborhoods, but there are also large areas that are not. The West Side also has this problem, but the only parts of the North Side I've seen thar are even kinds similar are industrial land or 1 or 2 blocks here and there. I've never run across residential areas like Bronzeville or Lawndale where 1/2 full blocks stretch for miles at a time.

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

I'd say the outright line cuts and slow zones will be totally done by the end of autumn (probably by Thanksgiving, give or take). The cab signaling project is supposed to wrap up sometime in Q1 or Q2 2009, so there might be some periodic late night single tracking until that's completed.

.........what's the hole digging going on at State & Washington over the last week ?

[MayorOfChicago]

I just saw this expaned explanation on the CTA website. It actually gives quite up to date and easy to understand information:

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/szep.html#red

There are also a lot of links on the CTA website which will give you additional information about projects and updates.

[MayorOfChicago]

Now my question.....


I've been taking the 134/135/136 express buses home from work now that I've moved to Uptown.

Why do the CTA buses go past the northbound entrance to upper Lakeshore as you're crossing the river and go through the Illinois and Grand stoplights before then entering Lakeshore? Those lights always take awhile to get through, and they drive right past an entrance ramp to get to the one 1/2 mile down the road. There are no bus stops here.

The only reason I can think of is because the earlier entrance ramp is entering traffic from the left instead of the right on upper Lakeshore, and that might be a problem with the drivers line of sight?? Like people crammed in the front of the bus and he/she can't see traffic to the right?

That's all I could think of, although the drivers are constantly moving around lane traffic downtown and have no problem merging into right hand lanes.

It just really bothers me when there's a ton of traffic on random nights and it can take 5-8 minutes to reach that entrace ramp after waiting through the Illinois/Grand lights.

[pilsenarch]

my guess is you answered your own question....lots of congestion there and often the backup from the light and left-turn lane at Chicago effects the movement there....

now my question:

I've been googling this for some time now w/o success....has anyone noticed the semi-permanent but clearly unanticipated temporary support columns added to the new Helmet Jahn canopies at O'hare? It would appear that someone figured out that the structural design or excecution was in danger of catostrophic failure and I'm surprised I can't find anything in the press or on the web about it....

[MayorOfChicago]

I googled it as well and came up with.......your question on this forum. Ha.

Could you explain more what you're talking about? I don't know what those are or where they're located. Haven't been to O'hare in over a month...

Although sometimes when I'm bored at work downtown I hop on the Orange Line and ride it to Midway to eat lunch in the terminal. I told my coworkers about that a few months ago and they still constantly bring it up as one of the most bizarre things they've ever heard. They keep asking me if I want to take them to the airport for lunch someday. I can't help it if I love infrastructure!