Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioGuy
I still fantasize about a bus tunnel, similar to Seattle’s (though they just made theirs exclusive to light rail) under Michigan Ave from Oak Street to the river.
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I've wanted this for ages, too. There's already a Lower Michigan to Grand, so it only needs to be extended about half a mile. In conjunction with that, a Lower Chicago Ave between, say, Orleans and Fairbanks would also dramatically reduce 66/Chicago bus travel times between the Blue Line, Michigan Ave, and Navy Pier, and really enable turning 66/Chicago into BRT service. With the existing growth near Chicago/Milwaukee, and the planned growth at Chicago/River, it would really make commuting to the Mag Mile much easier/faster, and dramatically help surface congestion and/or enable some creative streetscapes east of Franklin.
Creating a Lower Michigan to Oak Street would be very disruptive to the businesses there, but the long-term benefit would be huge, especially since it really could improve travel times between the West Loop train stations and the Mag Mile and enable some creative bus routings with Lower Wacker and/or a new Carol Street transit way.
I'd guess doing that to Michigan would cost double the reconstruction of Wacker, at worst, and take about the same timeframe.