[ardecila]

I do not like this downsizing of Create.

I took a look at what was cancelled... really nothing too important. A few random grade separations on low-traffic streets, and a handful of major projects that would have benefited only CN.

All the improvements affecting Amtrak and Metra remain in the plans.

Canceled:
Grade separation, 144th Street & UP RR, Blue Island, $15m
Grade separation, Burr Oak Ave & CSX RR, Blue Island $15m
Grade separation, 19th Avenue & UP RR, Maywood $15m
Central Corridor, Ogden-Grand Crossing, Chicago $97m
Ogden Junction/BNSF Connector $16m
CN Altenheim Subdivision Rebuild $31m

Total savings: $189m (only 6% of the total $3B)


The Altenheim Subdivision project's cancellation is probably a huge bonus, in fact, for Chicago transportation. It is the freight line that runs next to the Eisenhower in Oak Park, then in Franklin Park, becomes part of Metra's North Central Service. Because of the EJ&E purchase, CN will no longer be running large numbers of trains on this line. That means that portions of it may be up for purchase, providing a possible solution to capacity problems on the Metra line, and a possible solution to Eisenhower widening through Oak Park.

[Mr Downtown]

a possible solution to capacity problems on the Metra line

:koko: What Metra line?

[ardecila]

CN owns the tracks on which Metra's North Central Service runs. Due to CN's purchase of the EJ&E, most of their through-Chicago trains will be diverted from this line. The tracks will not be totally abandoned by CN, but a greatly reduced number of freight trains will allow for a more robust Metra schedule on the NCS, including a potential O'Hare express train (if coupled with a People Mover extension).

In Forest Park, the south end of CN's line connects to CSX's Altenheim Sub (owned as part of the B&OCT). Although CSX owns this line, it connects only to CN tracks on the west end in Forest Park, and I believe CN is the sole user, through trackage rights. CN's purchase of EJ&E means they will no longer be using this line, allowing it to be abandoned and possibly used for transit purposes or highway expansion. I doubt CN will continue to pay for trackage rights on a line they no longer use, and without that revenue, CSX will no longer wish to maintain the line.

There's also a short stretch of CN-owned track between Franklin Park and Forest Park that will also be abandoned by CN.

[Mr Downtown]

^Right, I understand all that, but how would the Altenheim sub provide "a possible solution to capacity problems on the Metra line?" Which Metra line?

[ardecila]

The Altenheim Sub itself wouldn't affect Metra either way. But further up the line (north of Franklin Park), CN is reducing freight traffic on their ex-Soo Line tracks, which should allow more North Central trains.

Under the original CREATE plan, the Altenheim Sub would have been reconstructed and linked to a new CN corridor running southeast to Grand Junction, giving CN a dedicated corridor through the city. With the EJ&E purchase, the need for the Altenheim Sub and the ex-Soo Line has been eliminated or greatly reduced.

Essentially, CN's EJ&E purchase should remove the majority of CN trains from their lines inside the EJ&E, leaving a bunch of CN-owned, urban/suburban rail corridors that are unused or lightly used.

There's the ex-Soo Line going north from Franklin Park, then an IC corridor heading west (proposed for Amtrak service to Rockford/Dubuque) and one heading south along Metra Electric.

[bnk]

http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/terms-30419-car-collinsville.html

LaHood terms car program a success

August 21, 2009 10:27 PM

By SANFORD J. SCHMIDT

The Telegraph

COLLINSVILLE — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the "Cash for Clunkers" program an overwhelming success Friday, even as he faced a grilling because some car dealers aren’t getting their cash as fast as they would like.

LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Peoria, spoke to the media in Collinsville shortly after a meeting with area leaders on the subject of transportation. Reporters from St. Louis television stations told him the dealers in their city are up in arms because the federal government still owes them money.

"We had no idea this program was going to be so successful," LaHood said. He called it "one of the most overwhelming successes I can remember."

LaHood explained that some of the problems in reimbursing dealers are caused by applications from them that were not filled out properly.

He said 2,000 people are going over the applications, but reporters said dealers are complaining that the forms, which include 10 questions, are too complicated.

LaHood said he doesn’t feel the applications are too complicated, but he noted there will be an Internet program this weekend to walk the dealers through the process.

Under the program, the government has allocated $2 billion to people who want to trade in gas-guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars. LaHood said there were more than 500,000 deals made in fewer than 30 days.

President Barack Obama announced this week that the program will end Monday.

"All I can say to dealers is, keep selling cars," LaHood said, assuring reporters that the dealers will get their money.

Many dealers have said they will stop Cash for Clunkers sales after today to make sure they get reimbursed by the government for the rebates of up to $4,500. The program has helped revive sagging auto sales by allowing drivers to trade in older, less fuel-efficient vehicles for new cars and trucks.

Originally expected to last for several months, the program is on track to exhaust its funds in just over four weeks.


It has been a big hit with buyers but has led to hassles for dealers, who have been paid for only a fraction of the rebates they’ve extended to customers.

Many dealers have expressed concern that they won’t be repaid. As of Thursday, only about 7 percent of rebates had been repaid.

LaHood, U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and Illinois Transportation Secretary Garry Hannig, a former state representative from Mount Olive, spoke to the press after talking to members of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois.

The purpose of the visit was to talk about federal stimulus package money flowing into the state and region, along with money coming in from a capital spending bill recently passed in Illinois.

"Illinois has gotten more money out the door faster," Costello said.

He said the spending has put people to work in several parts of the state.

Hannig said the state received $620 million and units of local government have received $300 million from the federal stimulus bill. Many projects were ready to go when the bill passed, so the money was spent more quickly here than elsewhere, and the money has put more people to work, he said.

Hannig said approval and construction of a new bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis is the No. 1 priority for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The guests at the transportation roundtable also talked about proposals to build a high-speed rail system in Illinois.

"Our top priority in Illinois is the Chicago-to-St. Louis route," Hannig said.

LaHood said he is convinced people will use high-speed rail if it is built to carry passengers quickly, safely and cheaply.

"If you build it, they will come," he said.

[BVictor1]

^Finally, a rupublican with some damn sense.


Don't know if this was posted.

http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicago-transit-from-good-to-great-part.html

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Chicago Transit: From Good to Great, Part 1 - Building the Vision

Earlier this year, I won first prize in a global transit competition sponsored by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. So perhaps it is past time that looked at transit in Chicago. While this article is about that city, the techniques are applicable to most places.

Both the current and former CTA presidents, Richard Rodriguez and Ron Huberman, said that Chicago has a good transit system (I agree) but deserves a great one (I also agree). So with apologies to Jim Collins, this article kicks off a multi-part series on taking Chicago area transit from good to great.

http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicago-transit-from-good-to-great-part.html

[jpIllInoIs]

Is it me, or is this list of 19 RTA projects rather uninspiring? Several TOD studies including Skokie-Dempster Ave, Villages of Lombard, Clarendon Hills and Geneva and a corridor plan for 63rd St.

And actual transit plans for Dempster Avenue to OHare and another for the South Lakefront. The Dempster-OHare plan and So Lakefront plan sound like the work they should be doing. Is the RTA really the lead agency for TOD planning in this region? Are the studies done at the request of the towns? Im just asking, so please help me out with this.


http://www.rtachicago.com/CMS400Min/uploadedFiles/LIST%20FOR%202009%20POP%20PROJECTS.pdf

[sukwoo]

Is it me, or is this list of 19 RTA projects rather uninspiring? Several TOD studies including Skokie-Dempster Ave, Villages of Lombard, Clarendon Hills and Geneva and a corridor plan for 63rd St.

And actual transit plans for Dempster Avenue to OHare and another for the South Lakefront. The Dempster-OHare plan and So Lakefront plan sound like the work they should be doing. Is the RTA really the lead agency for TOD planning in this region? Are the studies done at the request of the towns? Im just asking, so please help me out with this.


http://www.rtachicago.com/CMS400Min/uploadedFiles/LIST%20FOR%202009%20POP%20PROJECTS.pdf

Hmm, it appears that Metra is adding a third track through Geneva on the UP-W. That's the first time I've read or heard of those plans. Anyone else have info about this?

[VivaLFuego]

Hmm, it appears that Metra is adding a third track through Geneva on the UP-W. That's the first time I've read or heard of those plans. Anyone else have info about this?

http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/upw.php

[sukwoo]

http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/upw.php

I've looked there before. The plans talk about triple tracking between River Forest and Elmhurst, but no discussion of adding additional track elsewhere. It would make sense to add third track in Geneva since its three track just west of the Geneva Metra station and three track just east in West Chicago. Adding a third track through Geneva would require adding a new span across the Fox River, however, as the current rail bridge is only built for two tracks.

[UChicagoDomer]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't there used to be FOUR entrances/exits for the Grand Ave. Red Line Station? Did one just become swallowed up by Rock Bottom's parking lot before our very eyes?

And does it seem to anyone else that the street surface has become substantially wider while the sidewalk surface has substantially decreased east and west along Grand Ave. from the Michigan Avenue overpass west to LaSalle?

If this was the trade off to improve the Grand Avenue station, it wasn't worth it.

[ardecila]

Is it me, or is this list of 19 RTA projects rather uninspiring? Several TOD studies including Skokie-Dempster Ave, Villages of Lombard, Clarendon Hills and Geneva and a corridor plan for 63rd St.

And actual transit plans for Dempster Avenue to OHare and another for the South Lakefront. The Dempster-OHare plan and So Lakefront plan sound like the work they should be doing. Is the RTA really the lead agency for TOD planning in this region? Are the studies done at the request of the towns? Im just asking, so please help me out with this.

The plans might seem uninspiring, but TOD is TOD. The 63rd Street plan makes sense, because it aims to rebuild a corridor that has been thoroughly gutted by demolition and urban renewal. It should bolster ridership on the Green Line, and hopefully reduce the stupid perception in Woodlawn that the L tracks = blight. If residents associate the new development with transit providers, then they may support the continued presence or expansion of transit in their areas.

Clarendon Hills is a wealthy suburb without a high-end downtown like its neighbors. Obviously it wants one too.

Geneva's a bit of an anomaly, since it has a vibrant and pedestrian friendly retail downtown right next to the Metra station. Most likely, the station and platforms are under-capacity but there's no feasible way to expand parking to increase ridership. They've already built a parking deck, but they didn't allow for vertical expansion. Hence, they want to add dense residential nearby to increase the walk-to-train crowd.

Skokie is a town that's already gung-ho on TOD, but so far, their planning efforts haven't been clicking. New development is dense but not urban. At least near downtown, they want to change that.

Lombard has a fairly sparse downtown with a lot of redevelopment potential. It's mostly fragments of an older, pedestrian downtown with few modern interventions, surrounded by parking lots and such.

[the urban politician]

If I recall correctly, a whole bunch of plans, community meetings, workshops, seminars, etc etc with community involvement and outlines of community goals, with the assistance of urban planners emphasizing walkability and creating an urban neighborhood occurred in the past few years for the New Communities program in the south and west sides of Chicago. Bronzeville was included.

And what came of all that? The Metropolis strip mall.

All this planning is BS if you can't simply tell a developer to go back to the drawing board and spend 15 minutes making their project more transit & pedestrian friendly. :koko:

[ardecila]

*sigh* The economy makes condos infeasible right now. The condos would have occupied the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th story of Metropolis.

The community places a premium on having a food store in the community, which is currently lacking except for a Jewel in Lake Meadows that is universally despised for its small size and poor choice. Capri Capital is willing to build a food store in their neighborhood.

The use of TIF money also places pressure on the developer to deliver ASAP. People don't like seeing their tax money get redirected from schools and police/fire to shadowy developers with no tangible result.

Hence, the project is redesigned to save money, with the residences cut out.

Perhaps you can use your newfound appreciation of strip malls to recognize that this project is really a huge victory in such a marginal, emerging area? This isn't Wicker Park, where the city can slap a pedestrian-street ordinance on the hood and expect everybody to walk or circle for 30 minutes looking for street parking. The project has nice landscaping, retail parcels along Pershing, State, and 40th, and plenty of sidewalks and stuff to help pedestrians get safely and comfortably to the stores.

[VivaLFuego]

If I recall correctly, a whole bunch of plans, community meetings, workshops, seminars, etc etc with community involvement and outlines of community goals, with the assistance of urban planners emphasizing walkability and creating an urban neighborhood occurred in the past few years for the New Communities program in the south and west sides of Chicago. Bronzeville was included.

And what came of all that? The Metropolis strip mall.

All this planning is BS if you can't simply tell a developer to go back to the drawing board and spend 15 minutes making their project more transit & pedestrian friendly. :koko:
Yep.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=63rd+and+st.+lawrence,+chicago+il&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=62.70117,64.423828&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.780204,-87.610702&panoid=kLO-zznv1dWvlZXtAp4A-Q&cbp=12,71.63,,0,4.26

Rampant unplanned development is definitely not the first thing that comes to mind there.

[jpIllInoIs]

John D. Boyd | Aug 26, 2009 5:41PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Rail industry program seeks big funding boost from stimulus TIGER grants
Illinois will ask Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to award $300 million to a multi-year project to untangle its congested freight and passenger rail lines, under a $1.5 billion discretionary funding account LaHood will allocate from the Recovery Act.
If successful, that would be the largest piece of federal funding yet directed to the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency program, or CREATE, which is a major national priority for the freight transportation industry.

George Weber, bureau chief for railroads at the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the state will ask for the $300 million for CREATE in a grant application due Sept. 15, on top of a $140 million request Illinois submitted Aug. 24 for a rail-bridge “flyover” project under the CREATE program to separate freight from commuter tracks.

That flyover grant submission was part of $550 million in all that Illinois is seeking in first-round stimulus funds for passenger rail development. The next CREATE request would be under what are called TIGER grants for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.
While other types of transportation spending are specified in the Recovery Act, LaHood has broad power to allocate $1.5 billion for projects he deems necessary. He has said some of that money will go to seaport needs, which were not specifically included in other accounts.

But CREATE’s backers say they have an ambitious program under way that would not only untangle congested tracks and roads throughout Chicago but would also speed train movements throughout the continent by removing a major bottleneck.

This is their best chance in years to give CREATE a booster shot of federal dollars, to help fund what backers say is a package of 78 construction projects estimated to cost over $3 billion.

Chicago pledged $30 million the next year.
Illinois in July approved $322 million in state funding, but until more federal money pours in CREATE lists more than $2.5 billion in unfunded projects.

Now, though, a lot is moving Chicago’s way. The stimulus law aimed huge amounts of money at transportation infrastructure, and created a new passenger rail push that will see several high-speed rail or new Amtrak passenger corridors head to Chicago.
And Illinois now has unrivaled clout in Washington, D.C. The election of Barack Obama as president put a former senator from Illinois in the White House, with Rahm Emanuel giving up a Chicago seat in the House of Representatives to be his White House Chief of Staff.
DOT Secretary LaHood had left a House seat from Peoria, Ill. New Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo was a longtime rail union lobbyist and former mayor of Riverdale outside Chicago. And in the Senate, Richard Durbin of Illinois ranks second in the Democratic leadership, with influence over a broad range of issues.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.
http://www.joc.com/node/413097

[arenn]

Here's part two of my transit series. It compares the design of our transit system - stations, shelters, buses, uniforms, entrances - to others around the world with a call to improve:

http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicago-transit-from-good-to-great-part_30.html

I also have a collection of photos of metro stations from around the world, but I'm guessing you've seen most of them already.

[lawfin]

Out of curiosity given the growth of ridership on the Brown line and the residential development along it over the past 10-15 years does anyone think it might be possible that we could see a return to owl service on the brown line?

Should we?

I think it might make sense....I think it certainly should go later than mid-night

[VivaLFuego]

The shuttle between Kimball-Belmont goes until something like 2:15 and starts up by about 4:30.

[OhioGuy]

The shuttle between Kimball-Belmont goes until something like 2:15 and starts up by about 4:30.

When I was living in Lincoln Square, I used the shuttle to get home after going out in Boystown. I was definitely appreciative of having that option for getting back to my apartment. Transit systems that shut down their trains before last call at the bars suck! Probably leads to more people driving to the bars and as a result driving drunk back home. The CTA's rail schedules are generally pretty good and something I certainly appreciated during my 2.5 years in Chicago. Having an additional option besides the bus & taxis made living without a car that much easier.

[lawfin]

The shuttle between Kimball-Belmont goes until something like 2:15 and starts up by about 4:30.
Yeah I forgot about that.

But there have been times when I have been down in the west loop and wished I could grab a brown line but instead had to hike over to state st.

I still think it might make sense to run it to the loop 24 / 7

[ardecila]

Lake Street remake (http://chicagojournal.com/News/09-02-2009/Lake_Street_remake)
Morgan el project gets federal help, intersection to be cleared of columns
09/02/2009 10:00 PM
By MICAH MAIDENBERG

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3706/4841.jpg http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8325/greenline.jpg

A new el station in the West Loop is getting some help from the ultimate infrastructure funder: Uncle Sam.

The City of Chicago will use $8 million in federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds to help pay for the planned Morgan and Lake station, which would serve riders on the Green and Pink lines.

Originally, the city assumed dollars from the Kinzie Industrial Tax Increment Financing District would pay for the entirety of the project, according to Brian Steele, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation.

But then the city learned in the late spring the Morgan Street station project was awarded the federal grant. The news delayed finding a contractor to build the station, but Steele said the pause was well worth it.

In all, $36 million has been secured thus far for the station.

Bids for the project will be opened Sept. 24. Work could start within 60 to 90 days of when the contract is awarded — possibly late this year, Steele said. Initially, the chosen contractor would procure equipment and relocate utilities, with actual construction eyed for 2010.

Bids have been opened for a project that would move support columns for the Green and Pink line out of the Lake and Ogden intersection. Work is expected to start in October and be finished by 2011.

“It will be somewhat similar to the reconstruction of Wacker Drive during 2001 and 2002, when we replaced column structures at Wells and Wacker,” Steele said. “There will still be column supports, but instead of them being on the roadway, they’ll be in the sidewalk area.”

The el stop and column removal projects are expected to be carried out simultaneously.

-----------

Hopefully the column relocation project will give us another cool truss structure. The one on Wacker is massive, and something similar would look dynamite at Lake/Ogden.

[Busy Bee]

I'm really digging that mesh screen with the CTA logotype on it. I hope it survives all the inevitable value engineering and bean counter driven aesthetic mediocrity.

[Attrill]

I'm really digging that mesh screen with the CTA logotype on it. I hope it survives all the inevitable value engineering and bean counter driven aesthetic mediocrity.

Agreed - hopefully the Federal money will help allow that feature to survive the process :)

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-pace-express-bus-03-sep03,0,2722832.story

Pace, toll chiefs aim to speed Tri-State traffic
Agencies to request $200 million for high-occupancy lanes

By Richard Wronski

Tribune reporter

September 3, 2009

The "green lane" toll road concept proposed last year by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is back, this time with Pace and the Illinois Tollway pushing a plan to designate express bus and carpool lanes on the Tri-State Tollway.

The agencies are seeking $200 million in federal stimulus funding to get express buses running between job-scarce areas in the south suburbs and employment opportunities in the west and northwest.

If funding is approved, the so-called high-occupancy-toll or HOT lanes could be opened on the Tri-State by early 2012, officials said Wednesday.

Under the proposal, the inner lane in each direction would be intended for buses and carpools. Single-occupant motorists would be allowed to use the HOT lanes but would pay a premium toll, depending on the level of congestion.

The lanes would start at the southern end of the Tri-State (Interstate Highway 294) at the Chicago Southland Oasis in South Holland and extend 35 miles north to Rosemont and O'Hare. There would be stops in between for bus connections and park-and-ride lots.

The concept is already used as a congestion-relief measure in several areas, including Minneapolis, Denver, Orange County, San Diego and Houston. The idea with its strong "green," environmentally friendly overtones is to speed the flow of traffic for buses and carpools and to cut vehicle emissions.

But Pace and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority are stressing the plan primarily as an economic stimulus tool to link people with jobs. The idea is to move people to jobs in such communities as Oak Brook, Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg and to O'Hare International Airport, officials said.

Pace and the toll authority plan to file for the economic-recovery grant by Sept. 15.

The funds would be used for construction and improvement of parking lots, development of express lanes and ramps, and equipment -- including 52 new buses that would run on natural gas.

Pace envisions express buses running at 20 to 30 minute intervals along the Tri-State from about 4 a.m. to midnight. Between 800 to 1,000 riders a day are expected initially, said Pace Deputy Executive Director Michael Bolton.

Pace's board of directors gave their support for the project Wednesday, but the plan has not been presented to the toll authority's directors.

Rocco Zucchero, the tollway's deputy chief of engineering for planning, said the two agencies have been working on the grant request for seven or eight weeks. But the toll authority has been studying the concept of HOT lanes for as long as 10 years, he added.

Blagojevich proposed the concept of "green lanes" on the tollway in October 2008, but the idea was put on hold after he was removed from office.

Zucchero acknowledged the similarities but said the new plan focuses on job creation. The tollway is more than halfway through a 10-year, $6 billion rebuilding and widening program. As part of this work, widening of the Tri-State to four lanes in each direction from Indiana to Wisconsin is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

But in some cities, converting to high-occupancy lanes has sparked opposition. Some critics consider the concept elitist.

rwronski@tribune.com
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune


..

[Mr Downtown]

^Finally, a suburb-to-suburb transit plan that makes some sense.

Too bad there's not a regional planning agency that could anoint this and finally put a stake through the heart of the STAR Line.

[VivaLFuego]

Yeah I forgot about that.

But there have been times when I have been down in the west loop and wished I could grab a brown line but instead had to hike over to state st.

I still think it might make sense to run it to the loop 24 / 7

The demand isn't there - the overall demand for North-South travel to/from downtown is met by the Red Line running every 12-15 minutes during the late night and early morning hours. It leaves a few gaps in coverage - namely around Diversey and Armitage Brown Line stations, and the West Loop. However, the demand in these areas can also be met by the #8 Halsted bus, which also runs until about 2 and starts up around 4:30. If anything, probably more cost effective to just make that an owl route at a 20-30-minute frequency than to run the rails, staff the stations, etc.

The Lake-Dan Ryan line ran 24 hours over the Loop until the early 90s, but only on the Wabash and Lake legs. I'm not sure of the last time the Wells and Van Buren legs had owl service - maybe MrD knows exactly. If I had to guess, the last time would have been the 1960s before the Dan Ryan line opened, the Loop ran unidirectionally (both tracks running counterclockwise) and the Lake Street line looped instead of running through.

[ardecila]

^Finally, a suburb-to-suburb transit plan that makes some sense.

Too bad there's not a regional planning agency that could anoint this and finally put a stake through the heart of the STAR Line.

I'm not sure... it only works if the express lanes are used as a segment of larger routes connecting the parking lots to employment centers. The employment centers are usually off the Tri-State, sometimes by a few miles, not within walking distance of Pace's planned park-n-ride lots. Fortunately, the bus routes can be endlessly tweaked and modified, since they're not on a fixed guideway.

I'm glad they want to use stimulus funds for this... that way we can save traditional highway funding for other valuable projects (Elgin-O'Hare, 53 extension, Illiana). On the other hand, the use of stimulus money necessarily shortens the planning process dramatically. I hope studies have been done to demonstrate ridership before $200 million smackers of my tax money are spent.

[ardecila]

Apparently they're only running this in Ireland. You'd think it would do fantastically well on Chicago TV, since it features CTA and the cityscape so prominently. :shrug: It's really made quite well.

KcxkUL7AUH4

[Busy Bee]

Way cool. Very clever. Apparantly American ad interests think that we'd rather see something funny than clever. Imagine that.

[the urban politician]

^ Great ad. I can see it working in Europe, but not America.

[bnk]

The usa does not have the attention span for a full ad without seeing the product until the end. Americans are not smart enough as a whole to make this work on a national level. This can work in markets like Chicago and college towns but red state peps would just drool and say wtf?

[OhioGuy]

Cool ad!! :tup:

[ChicagoChicago]

The usa does not have the attention span for a full ad without seeing the product until the end. Americans are not smart enough as a whole to make this work on a national level. This can work in markets like Chicago and college towns but red state peps would just drool and say wtf?

Yes, those red states are neanderthals... Thank God we have the educated blue states out there to keep us from drowning in a pool of our own drool. And yes, you are correct, it's because Americans aren't smart enough that they wouldn't appreciate the ad...

Care to insult anyone else?

[Busy Bee]

Religous teetotalers also wouldn't like it. Stupid American religous teetotalers! ;)

[emathias]

Religous teetotalers also wouldn't like it. Stupid American religous teetotalers! ;)

I thought a religious teetotaler would be someone who refuses to partake of religion. ;-)

[emathias]

While watching TV the other night, a CTA ad came on. It showed a gas pump ticking higher with a man crying in the background and then suggested people spend $86 for a 30-day pass instead.

It was possibly the stupidest commercial I've ever seen. Who on earth things it's a good idea to advertise your product with a crying man? That's just grade A stupid.

[Busy Bee]

Religious would be an adjective in this case.

[lawfin]

Yes, those red states are neanderthals...
Care to insult anyone else?

Don't insult neanderthals.....homo hablis maybe....

then again that would entail evolution...woops

ok...red state men : blown clay; red state women: ribs

It says so in the Bible.....its gotta be true

[ardecila]

While watching TV the other night, a CTA ad came on. It showed a gas pump ticking higher with a man crying in the background and then suggested people spend $86 for a 30-day pass instead.

It was possibly the stupidest commercial I've ever seen. Who on earth things it's a good idea to advertise your product with a crying man? That's just grade A stupid.

Woah... the CTA runs ads? :sly:

[bnk]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200909031236DOWJONESDJONLINE000637_FORTUNE5.htm

Union Pacific: New Chicago-Area Terminal To Be Complete In June '10

September 03, 2009: 12:36 PM ET


Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) announced Thursday that the initial phase of its new Chicago-area intermodal terminal, designed to handle up to 500,000 containers annually, will be finished next June.

The $370 million terminal, located in Joliet, Ill., will decrease congestion in the busy Chicago transportation hub and boost Union Pacific's intermodal capacity, the company said.

Once the facility is operational, for instance, Union Pacific said it will be able to run twice as many trains between Chicago and San Antonio, because Chicago-area congestion currently restrains traffic.

"Ultimately, the impact means good-paying jobs for the community, growth in the markets we serve and an expansion of the role of rail - one of the 'greenest' and safest modes of freight transportation," Union Pacific Chief Executive Jim Young said in a prepared statement.

Construction on the 785-acre terminal began last month. Union Pacific said the terminal can be expanded beyond the initial phased based on customer demand.

[Busy Bee]

Is this the one down by Lorenzo Road right by I-55?

[denizen467]

Apparently they're only running this in Ireland. You'd think it would do fantastically well on Chicago TV, since it features CTA and the cityscape so prominently. :shrug: It's really made quite well.

KcxkUL7AUH4

Holy genius!! And they use the original Beatles lyrics basically word for word. Parts of the video are also direct homages to the video for the Beatles song. And you'd have to watch & pause this video a dozen times before you get all the little buried cute references and tricks -- I dig the final hidden letter "W". :tup: :tup:

[ardecila]

Is this the one down by Lorenzo Road right by I-55?

Not exactly. The thing is massive - it sits about halfway between I-55 and Chicago Motor Speedway.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1605/railyard.jpg

[ardecila]

Hallelujah! Metra's redesigning their website. It's about time...

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7880/newsiteprelaunchpromo.jpg

[nomarandlee]

When is it supposed to be done? I had to go to the site about twenty minutes ago and it was still the same 1997 design as always.

Hope they do a complete overhaul including forigen language options.

[ardecila]

Oops... fixed the image link. It'll be up by Friday.

[bnk]

www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-fast-trains-side-0906,0,944146.story


Illinois looks for pair of benefits on high-speed rail travel
State wants to acquire trains for intercity passenger travel, hopes to benefit from manufacturing surge

Jon Hilkevitch

September 6, 2009

Officials in Illinois, which was once a leader in the train-building industry, are working to ensure the state benefits on both sides of the supply-and-demand equation: as a major player in train manufacturing and as a customer buying new locomotives and passenger cars.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation in late August allowing the state to enter into public-private partnerships to acquire new trains for intercity passenger travel. State transportation officials estimate that the first high-speed corridors could be operating in three to five years between Chicago and other Midwestern cities.

The state's new capital-improvement program contains $400 million for high-speed rail. Officials haven't yet decided what portion will go toward buying new trains, versus spending on improvements to tracks, signals and other infrastructure.

"Depending on what we get from the stimulus package, we will determine how much we have to use. We are estimating that we will need around 12 train sets," said George Weber, chief of the railroad bureau at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Each train set would consist of 250 to 300 seats, he said, and could be as small as four or five coach cars.

Once an order is placed, the first trains would be delivered in three years, Weber estimated, adding that the schedule dovetails with plans to inaugurate high-speed service.

State officials hope Illinois will be awarded about $2 billion of the $8 billion available for high-speed rail from the federal government.

So far, Wisconsin is the only state to use federal stimulus funds to order new trains. In July, it contracted with the Spanish train manufacturer Talgo for $47 million to build two sets of 14-car trains in Wisconsin.

The trains will operate on Amtrak's Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago. The train cars could be used in the future for high-speed service between Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, officials said.

The Talgo trains are capable of cruising at 125 m.p.h., officials said.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/1754481,CST-NWS-cta05.article

Blue Line track work shifts south
Shuttle buses will run weekends from Clark/Lake to UIC-Halsted

September 5, 2009

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation reporter mwisniewski@suntimes.com

Track replacement on the northern part of the Blue Line subway is done, so weekend subway service suspensions soon will begin on the southern part.

The Chicago Transit Authority has been using $88 million in federal stimulus money to replace about seven miles of track from Division on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line to Clinton on the Forest Park branch. The repairs primarily were to prevent the development of "slow zones," in which trains have to run slower than normal for safety.

Because of the repairs, passengers going between Western/Milwaukee and Clark/ Lake on weekends had to ride shuttle buses nearly every weekend this summer. Exceptions were made for busy weekends, such as during the Taste of Chicago.

With repairs to the northern part of the subway completed last weekend, along with 2007 and 2008 Blue Line work, most slow zones have been eliminated on the O'Hare branch.

"We're back to the 45-minute trip from downtown to O'Hare, which is what it's supposed to be," said CTA spokeswoman Sheila Gregory.

Starting next weekend, subway service will be shut between the Clark/Lake and UIC-Halsted stations most weekends. Shuttle buses will operate as a substitute.

"CTA is putting stimulus funds to good use on projects that will have a direct impact on customers' travels," said CTA President Richard Rodriguez.

The Blue Line project is scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.

CTA received a total of $241 million in stimulus funds. The rest of the money is being used to buy new buses and overhaul old buses and rail cars.



..

[bnk]

http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20090908ohare_to_get_competition/

Transportation September 8, 2009

O'Hare to get competition?

A site just 40 miles from O'Hare International might not sound like the best place to build a cargo airport. But that's not stopping officials in Will County, Ill.

By Mitch Mac Donald and Mark B. Solomon


"Build it and they will come" has long been the mantra of developers and politicians looking to transform unused (or underused) space into showplaces of trade and commerce—not to mention hotbeds for jobs. But the optimistic burghers of Will County, Ill., 40 miles southwest of Chicago, don't seem to think they'll have much of a wait. To hear them tell it, the people and the commerce don't have to come. They're already there.

The state and county plan to develop a cargo airport as part of an ambitious multimodal transport complex that will include up to four intermodal rail yards, access to three interstate highways, and up to 135 million square feet of industrial warehousing and distribution space, 20 percent of which currently sits vacant due to the economic downturn.

There is one major obstacle, however: One of the world's most established cargo airports, O'Hare International, sits only 40 miles away.

State and county officials seem unfazed. As they see it, the "South Suburban Airport" will offer a compelling alternative to O'Hare, with its lower airline landing fees, less-congested airside and landside operations, and convenient connections to Interstates 55, 57, and 65 as well as to intermodal rail services. "Our point of distribution is more friendly than O'Hare's," says John Grueling, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development.

The new airport's backers believe the two airports can thrive despite their close proximity to each other. "We are not going after the folks at O'Hare," says Dr. Susan Shea, director of the Illinois Department of Transportation's aeronautics division.

Olympic dreams

Not everyone shares their optimism. Dan Muscatello, managing director, cargo and logistics for Cincinnati-based airport planner and developer Landrum & Brown, says a new airport so close to O'Hare would have a tough time attracting new business or diverting traffic from the older facility. O'Hare has a well-established base of airlines, truckers, and freight forwarders that would be loath to pull up stakes and move down the road, Muscatello says. Nor would international airlines with all-cargo operations, like Korean Air, be inclined to split their passenger and cargo flights between two airports, he says. And any advantage South Suburban may have in terms of landing costs and ease of access would be more than offset by the significant volume-based discounts that shippers and forwarders get by tendering large quantities of freight at a "gateway" airport like O'Hare, he adds.

What's more, O'Hare is about to shed its reputation for being short on cargo space. It is currently adding 750,000 square feet of airside cargo space, including 18 additional parking spaces for freighter aircraft. When the project is completed, O'Hare will have 45 freighter parking spaces, the same as at Los Angeles International Airport, according to Muscatello.

Gary Schultheis, senior vice president airfreight, North America for Deutsche Post DHL, the world's largest air forwarder, was succinct in his opinion on the necessity of a second cargo airport in the region. Asked if one is needed, Schultheis replied in an e-mail: "Not really."

State and county officials are banking on continuing growth in commerce and population—Will County is Illinois' fastest-growing county—as well as the multimodal nature of the project to carry the day. They also point to the success of Rockford, Ill., about 70 miles from Chicago, where UPS operates a thriving regional air-cargo facility. Rockford demonstrates that the greater Chicago market is big enough for more than one cargo airport, officials say.

The South Suburban project is still in the early stages. According to Shea of IDOT, the state has purchased roughly half the land needed to construct the first runway and terminal. It has also begun condemnation proceedings to acquire raw land for further expansion. The state has started filing the necessary paperwork with the Federal Aviation Administration and has solicited the support of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman.

Shea declined to specify a target date for completion but said the state would like to have the airport up and running no later than the 2016 Summer Olympics. Chicago is bidding for the 2016 Games.

[Busy Bee]

^Where exactly is this proposed? i can't seem to place the exact location as the article stays pretty vague.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ The firm I work for was involved in the sale of a several hundred acre farm to IDOT Southeast of Peotone for this airport. The Airport will be located there.

[ardecila]

I can see Peotone as a good site for a cargo airport, actually. It makes little sense as a major passenger airport, but getting cargo carriers to move to Will County would free capacity at O'Hare for additional passenger growth. Plus, it would allow for some redevelopment of the massive industrial parks of Elk Grove Village, Franklin Park, and Northlake, which are about to get sliced'n'diced by the Elgin-O'Hare anyway.

I dunno, I guess I have a lot fewer issues with exurban industrial development than exurban residential development, since industrial development has a monolithic scale that seems appropriate to the vast open spaces and 1-mile grid of the Midwestern countryside. It also removes pollution generators like truck traffic and factories from population centers closer in. I've also historically noticed that industrial employers are far more likely to work with Pace to provide transit services than office employers. Finally, many of the jobs created in a Will County industrial park would be stable low-income jobs that would benefit the people living in South Cook County and actually shortening their commute in practical terms, since many of them must currently travel congested roads to reach the the O'Hare area or the I-88/I-90 corridors.

Oh, and the I-80 corridor is quite possibly one of the busiest roads in the country in terms of truck volume. A Peotone airport would pull those trucks off of the Tri-State going to O'Hare and put them instead onto 55 and 57, which seems to be a better use of existing capacity.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ford-city-sw-zone-09sep09,0,4160064.story

Ford City hopes to get railroaded
CTA Orange Line extension could shore up Southwest Side mall

By Carmen Greco Jr.

September 9, 2009

John Keating has lived in the shadow of the Ford City Mall since it opened in 1965 and watched as nearby suburban malls whittled its customer base and stole higher-end retailers. But now he's hopeful about CTA plans for a new Orange Line stop there.

"We've been waiting for a major transportation project for some period of time," said Keating, 74, of the Scottsdale neighborhood. "The Orange Line is going to be a great asset to the Far Southwest Side of the city."

Keating said he was peeved in the early 1990s when CTA officials, citing a lack of funds, decided to end the new Orange Line at Midway Airport rather than Ford City. An extension would add 2.3 miles from the airport to the mall's doorstep at 76th Street and Cicero Avenue.

"It seems like this corner of the city has been put on the back burner," he said. "Out here in the boonies, we have to fight for everything."

The new stop, with an estimated price tag of $490 million, most of which would be federal funds, would not be operational until at least 2016.

CTA spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said it was premature to comment beyond that the project is in a preliminary study phase and that the agency's federal grant request is pending.

The extension is intended to improve bus-to-train connections for numerous CTA and Pace bus routes along Cicero Avenue and other nearby areas where there has been significant growth.

Ford City Mall owners already are salivating at the increased visibility a rail station could bring, not to mention the increased foot traffic it would generate. The CTA estimates the extension would serve up to 7,200 riders from the city and nearby southwest suburbs...................

..

[nomarandlee]

new Metra page is up (in English and Spanish)

http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html

[Busy Bee]

While its obviously an improvemnet because it DOES look like it belongs in this century, my first impression is meh. Metra still does not a have a strong brand identity and i think it may have something to do with the average age of those administrators (check out those little pics)

[VivaLFuego]

While its obviously an improvemnet because it DOES look like it belongs in this century, my first impression is meh. Metra still does not a have a strong brand identity and i think it may have something to do with the average age of those administrators (check out those little pics)

Nitpick, but the Board of Directors aren't administrators. The board, composed of political appointees, meets once a month to oversee the administration being performed day-to-day by professional staff, and vote on broader strategic level issues and high-value contract awards.

A big part of the lack of brand identity probably results from modern-day Metra being composed of a hodgepodge of private operations, some of which (the Union Pacific lines, formerly Chicago&Northwestern) are still contracted out. If anything, I'd actually say that between the rail fleet and graphics standards Metra has done remarkably well at establishing a uniform identity for a system that is composed of parts from 6(?) different private rail operations that were only brought together in the past few decades.

[Busy Bee]

Thats what I meant to say.

[Attrill]

new Metra page is up (in English and Spanish)

http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html

It would have been nice if they made the schedules viewable using mobile devices. The site is basically unusable using my Palm.

[spyguy]

Haven't spent enough time looking around the new Metra website to form an opinion, but here's a quick comparison:

Old vs. New
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3694/metra1.jpghttp://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8462/metra1b.jpg
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8136/metra2.jpghttp://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3285/metra2b.jpg
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/3391/metra3.jpghttp://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2666/metra3b.jpg

^I love that old rainbow divider lifted from FrontPage or Geocities.

[MayorOfChicago]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't there used to be FOUR entrances/exits for the Grand Ave. Red Line Station? Did one just become swallowed up by Rock Bottom's parking lot before our very eyes?

And does it seem to anyone else that the street surface has become substantially wider while the sidewalk surface has substantially decreased east and west along Grand Ave. from the Michigan Avenue overpass west to LaSalle?

If this was the trade off to improve the Grand Avenue station, it wasn't worth it.

I was wondering the same thing! I thought I was crazy!

They've paved right over the southwest entrace to the Grand Ave Red Line in front of Rock Bottom. I use to always wander out of Rock Bottom and right down into the subway, but when I walked by yesterday going to the train I was shocked to see no trace of the entrance.

They tore out the entrace and on top of that made the sidewalk even more narrow than it already was. The parking lane of the street use to end a half a block up and there was an extra wide sidewalk with the station entrance.

They have the north side of the street tore up now - and I have a feeling they'll do the same thing to that side. Or else they'll make that the elevator entrance like they did to the southwest corner of Chicago and State. That use to be an entrance to the red line as well - but now it's just the elevator.

It really pissed me off that when you're coming east on Grand you have to now walk all the way across the street and another 80 feet past to the existing entrance to come in from the opposite side.

Why!? So there's another turning lane on Grand?

[ardecila]

Some of it is undoubtedly temporary changes due to construction, to assist in managing the traffic flow.

[Taft]

I was wondering the same thing! I thought I was crazy!

They've paved right over the southwest entrace to the Grand Ave Red Line in front of Rock Bottom. I use to always wander out of Rock Bottom and right down into the subway, but when I walked by yesterday going to the train I was shocked to see no trace of the entrance.

They tore out the entrace and on top of that made the sidewalk even more narrow than it already was. The parking lane of the street use to end a half a block up and there was an extra wide sidewalk with the station entrance.

They have the north side of the street tore up now - and I have a feeling they'll do the same thing to that side. Or else they'll make that the elevator entrance like they did to the southwest corner of Chicago and State. That use to be an entrance to the red line as well - but now it's just the elevator.

It really pissed me off that when you're coming east on Grand you have to now walk all the way across the street and another 80 feet past to the existing entrance to come in from the opposite side.

Why!? So there's another turning lane on Grand?

From this: http://egov.cityofchicago.org:80/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?blockName=Transportation%2fI+Want+To&deptMainCategoryOID=&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Transportation&topChannelName=Dept&contentOID=536961838&Failed_Reason=Invalid+timestamp,+engine+has+been+restarted&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=%2fwebportal%2fportalContentItemAction.do&context=dept

It seems like CTA station exit and entrance closures will be temporary. However, they are less than clear in their language, IMO.

[the urban politician]

I saw rickshaws (the bicycle ones) for the first time ever a few days ago downtown.

I did a double take, because I have never seen them in Chicago before; come to think of it, I've never seen them in the United States outside of NYC.

What's up with that? It's exciting if we are indeed to expect a new mode of transportation to emerge downtown. Anything that adds more options to get around will only help to boost the central area economy.

This also could be a signal that Chicago's downtown has reached a critical mass of residential/tourist/shopping/entertaining density to support the beginnings of such an industry.

[ardecila]

Circle Line Screen 3 Open House Presentations

The Chicago Transit Authority invites the public to open houses on preliminary Screen 3 findings and recommendation of a locally preferred alternative, which will conclude the Alternatives Analysis study for the Circle Line. Previously in Screen 1 and Screen 2 of the Alternatives Analysis study, CTA presented an assessment of transit improvement options which included a selection of transit vehicle types and potential corridors for a Circle Line.

The Screen 3 public open houses are scheduled as follows:

UIC Molecular Biology Research Building
900 S. Ashland Avenue
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Bucktown/Wicker Park Public Library
1701 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Benito Juarez Community Academy
2150 S. Laflin Street
Thursday, October 1, 2009
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Presentation will begin at 6:15pm. All venues are accessible to people with disabilities.

Damn, CTA loves to spring these things on us with very little notice. Someone please attend one of the meetings... there are 3 of them, so hopefully somebody can find time. I won't be around. This is, however, possibly one of the biggest catalysts for change that will drive the development of the city for another 30 or 40 years.

[the urban politician]

This is, however, possibly one of the biggest catalysts for change that will drive the development of the city for another 30 or 40 years.

^ I still have yet to be convinced that mass transit is much of a driver of development in Chicago outside of the downtown area

[ardecila]

^ I still have yet to be convinced that mass transit is much of a driver of development in Chicago outside of the downtown area

It's not, per se, but the Circle Line will run through several wards where the aldermen have shown an unusual awareness and support for TOD principles. Manny Flores and Scott Waguespack are definitely on the progressive side when it comes to this, and I believe Danny Solis is as well, although he's under marked pressure to resist gentrification in Pilsen.

[Nowhereman1280]

^ I still have yet to be convinced that mass transit is much of a driver of development in Chicago outside of the downtown area

I don't buy that for a second, if you saw the view from my building, it would be quite apparent the effect the CTA has had on development. You can clearly see that the densest areas of the north side are all clustered along the Red Line, not just along the lakefront. Same goes for the Brown Line. I don't think it has as much of an effect on the South Side or west side, but CTA access is a definite locational preference in the North Neigbhorhoods (primarily because driving around here sux unless you are going somewhere with free parking that is easily accessible via LSD).

[breathesgelatin]

I saw rickshaws (the bicycle ones) for the first time ever a few days ago downtown.

I did a double take, because I have never seen them in Chicago before; come to think of it, I've never seen them in the United States outside of NYC.

You mean pedicabs? They're ubiquitous in downtown Austin in the evenings, particularly on the weekends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickshaws_Outside_Asia#Cities_in_North_America_where_pedicabs_are_in_operation

[emathias]

I saw rickshaws (the bicycle ones) for the first time ever a few days ago downtown.

I did a double take, because I have never seen them in Chicago before; come to think of it, I've never seen them in the United States outside of NYC.

What's up with that? It's exciting if we are indeed to expect a new mode of transportation to emerge downtown. Anything that adds more options to get around will only help to boost the central area economy.

This also could be a signal that Chicago's downtown has reached a critical mass of residential/tourist/shopping/entertaining density to support the beginnings of such an industry.

I don't know where you live, but there have been pedicabs in Chicago since at least 2001. I don't find it exciting at all. They're about as much a "new mode" of transit as those stupid, dangerous, impractical motor-driven "trolleys" are, they're not transportation any more than the horse-drawn carriages are.

[sammyg]

I don't know where you live, but there have been pedicabs in Chicago since at least 2001. I don't find it exciting at all. They're about as much a "new mode" of transit as those stupid, dangerous, impractical motor-driven "trolleys" are, they're not transportation any more than the horse-drawn carriages are.

Exactly - I asked a pedicab driver how much it would cost to get from Wrigley to Lincoln Park (about a $5 cab ride) and he quoted me something like 25 dollars. He explained that they just pedal around wrigleyville with tourists, they don't really take people places.

[emathias]

Ald. Reilly's weekly newsletter says that the CTA is doing an art installation at the Chicago Brown Line stop this weekend. I found on the CTA site that BJ Krivanek should be the artist and looking at his previous work it could be pretty interesting.

Anyone know exactly what they're installing, though? I couldn't find anything about what it will actually be.

[the urban politician]

Exactly - I asked a pedicab driver how much it would cost to get from Wrigley to Lincoln Park (about a $5 cab ride) and he quoted me something like 25 dollars. He explained that they just pedal around wrigleyville with tourists, they don't really take people places.

^ Yeah, I figured they were a tourist attraction.

Still, pedicabs started out this way in NYC as well, but in the densest parts of midtown Manhattan, where it's pretty tough to find a cab, it actually has emerged as a legit way to get somewhere if you really have to (and you're tired and don't want to walk any more).

Whether that ever happens in Chicago, we'll have yet to see.

[mcfinley]

^ Yeah, I figured they were a tourist attraction.

Still, pedicabs started out this way in NYC as well, but in the densest parts of midtown Manhattan, where it's pretty tough to find a cab, it actually has emerged as a legit way to get somewhere if you really have to (and you're tired and don't want to walk any more).

Whether that ever happens in Chicago, we'll have yet to see.

Even if you can find a cab, a rickshaw can be the fastest way to go East/West in parts of midtown--they can drive around cabs stuck in traffic.

[Chicago Shawn]

I can see Peotone as a good site for a cargo airport, actually. It makes little sense as a major passenger airport, but getting cargo carriers to move to Will County would free capacity at O'Hare for additional passenger growth. Plus, it would allow for some redevelopment of the massive industrial parks of Elk Grove Village, Franklin Park, and Northlake, which are about to get sliced'n'diced by the Elgin-O'Hare anyway.

I dunno, I guess I have a lot fewer issues with exurban industrial development than exurban residential development, since industrial development has a monolithic scale that seems appropriate to the vast open spaces and 1-mile grid of the Midwestern countryside. It also removes pollution generators like truck traffic and factories from population centers closer in. I've also historically noticed that industrial employers are far more likely to work with Pace to provide transit services than office employers. Finally, many of the jobs created in a Will County industrial park would be stable low-income jobs that would benefit the people living in South Cook County and actually shortening their commute in practical terms, since many of them must currently travel congested roads to reach the the O'Hare area or the I-88/I-90 corridors.

Oh, and the I-80 corridor is quite possibly one of the busiest roads in the country in terms of truck volume. A Peotone airport would pull those trucks off of the Tri-State going to O'Hare and put them instead onto 55 and 57, which seems to be a better use of existing capacity.


Yes, yes yes. I agree with everything you said. Major distribution centers and intermodal facilities are already flocking to Will County because of the cheap land and transportation access to existing rail and interstate highways. This why I have been saying in the past that this airport only makes sense as a cargo airport. If a passenger carrier sees a viability in providing service there, then fine let them do it; but lets not waste taxpayer money gambling on whether or not passenger service will take off there (no pun intended) because that has not happened at Gary or Rockford even with subsidies. If there are cargo carriers willing to fly there, and if the railroads want to build more intermodal facilities to serve the new airport, then lets do it.


Regarding UP's new facility in Will County; I went past there on a Amtrak Train one month ago and the rail spurs are already in place.

[arenn]

A freight only airport in Will County makes no sense. The competition shouldn't be looked at isn't O'Hare, but other airports in jurisdictions where you have lower costs and taxes. If it makes sense to locate in Will County instead of O'hare, why not Indianapolis? Even cheaper with less congested highways.

Incidentally, many if not most Midwest airports are already aggressively looking at air freight, hoping to peel away some of the specialty carriers from O'Hare. St. Louis plans a big push I know. Detroit and Memphis both have grand dreams of "aerotropolis".

[bnk]

Ahhh the Elgin-O'Hare expressway that currently goes to and from neither Elgin or O'Hare...

I am with Chicago Shawn and ardecila concerning Peotone.

http://www.southsuburbanairport.com/
http://abelincolnairport.com/
http://www.faa.gov/airport_development/ssa/






www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-elgin-ohare-12sep12,0,6599679.story


Elgin-O'Hare plan would cut travel to airport by nearly half, study says

Study sees benefits of Elgin-O'Hare proposal
By Jon Hilkevitch

TRIBUNE REPORTER

September 12, 2009

Building the long-planned extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway and a west bypass road connecting two interstate highways would cut travel times by up to half to O'Hare International Airport, according to a preliminary study the state released on Friday.

The project would also create tens of thousands of jobs and bring an estimated $5 billion in benefits to the local economy, concluded the draft environmental impact study issued by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Two alternative routes are under consideration to extend the eastern portion of the Elgin-O'Hare to create a western entrance to the airport, which currently is accessible only via Interstate Highway 190.

In addition, a western-bypass expressway, running north to south, would be built along the west side of O'Hare, potentially connecting Interstate Highway 90 and Interstate Highway 294.

The study found that building the western access and bypass road would significantly improve traffic conditions in the O'Hare area. It projected an up to 10 percent reduction in congested travel across area roadways; an up to 49 percent reduction in travel times to O'Hare and a growth in public transit ridership of up to 37 percent.

Transit improvements are part of the plan. Opportunities exist to extend the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line to the west side of O'Hare and enhance the concept of Metra's proposed suburb-to-suburb STAR Line.

The initial planning work for the project is scheduled for completion next year, and more detailed studies will follow.

There is no timetable for construction yet. IDOT said the project, based on preliminary estimates, would cost $3.6 billion.

The public can submit comments to IDOT on the draft study until Oct. 26. The study is at elginohare-westbypass.org.

A public hearing is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Oct. 8 at Belvedere Banquets, 1170 W. Devon Ave., Elk Grove Village.

[ardecila]

A freight only airport in Will County makes no sense. The competition shouldn't be looked at isn't O'Hare, but other airports in jurisdictions where you have lower costs and taxes. If it makes sense to locate in Will County instead of O'hare, why not Indianapolis? Even cheaper with less congested highways.

Incidentally, many if not most Midwest airports are already aggressively looking at air freight, hoping to peel away some of the specialty carriers from O'Hare. St. Louis plans a big push I know. Detroit and Memphis both have grand dreams of "aerotropolis".

If you're serving the Chicago market, you probably want to be in Chicagoland. Air cargo is usually packages, critical shipments, and perishables - not stuff that generally gets transported to trucks for long-haul journeys.

[jpIllInoIs]

A freight only airport in Will County makes no sense. The competition shouldn't be looked at isn't O'Hare, but other airports in jurisdictions where you have lower costs and taxes. If it makes sense to locate in Will County instead of O'hare, why not Indianapolis? Even cheaper with less congested highways.

Incidentally, many if not most Midwest airports are already aggressively looking at air freight, hoping to peel away some of the specialty carriers from O'Hare. St. Louis plans a big push I know. Detroit and Memphis both have grand dreams of "aerotropolis".

^Air Frieght is just one part of the whole intermodal freight delivery system. The other critical factor is rail access as well as interstates. And Indy just cant compete in the rail access arena. Right now in the state of intermodal, Chicago is the capitol. It is not just coincidental that this plan is being moved forward just when the massive UP intermodal south of Joliet is announced.

[emathias]

A freight only airport in Will County makes no sense. The competition shouldn't be looked at isn't O'Hare, but other airports in jurisdictions where you have lower costs and taxes. If it makes sense to locate in Will County instead of O'hare, why not Indianapolis? Even cheaper with less congested highways.

Incidentally, many if not most Midwest airports are already aggressively looking at air freight, hoping to peel away some of the specialty carriers from O'Hare. St. Louis plans a big push I know. Detroit and Memphis both have grand dreams of "aerotropolis".

Chicago still rules in intermodel capacity and experience, though, which isn't to be underestimated. I mean, if Illinois adds a few lanes of truck highway capacity in proximity to Peotone, sells proximity of the airport to the hub of the national rail system but with lower costs than O'Hare, it could kill off any serious competition from other low-cost locations even if it isn't the absolute lowest-cost cargo airport. Just being significantly cheaper than O'Hare could help keep logistics companies in Chicago instead of forcing them to expand operations in other states.

There are a lot of industries Chicago can live without, commodity industries like the stockyards and steel, but transportation is special. Keeping the advantage in transportation reaps a lot more for the area than just the direct income.

To be sure, I think passenger operations at Peotone is absolutely a bad idea, but IF there is a need - present or forseeable future - for a cheaper alternative for cargo operations, then Peotone might make sense (although I'd rather see Illinois invest in expanding Rockford's airport and maybe saving Illinois' second-biggest metro area than create a brand new airport and further stretch out the metro area).

[arenn]

Nobody disputes Chicago's dominance in rail and intermodal. But how many people are going to ship something from overseas by air to Chicago, then transfer it to a train? I'm not the ultimate expert in logistics, but this sounds like a dubious use case.

[ardecila]

They're not. The intermodal yards exist to transfer goods from trucks to trains and vice versa. The airport would exist to transfer goods from planes to trucks and vice versa. The two systems would only be tangentially related, but Will County wants to co-locate them because both types of facilities would take advantage of the potential employees and infrastructure that Will County already has.

It also allows trucking companies to build centralized depots that can handle both types of cargo, which is a huge efficiency boost for them.

[Mr Downtown]

I can't understand if the article is talking about the long-discussed Peotone/Lincoln International site, or if it's talking about a completely new airport proposal at the old arsenal site, adjacent to the big BNSF intermodal project there. The two things are a long way apart.

[bnk]

:previous:

I think it is the long-discussed Peotone/Lincoln International site. It seems that they are justifying it by starting it out as an intermodal cargo airport to get it off of the ground.

[Dr. Taco]

i'm getting impatient for the new el cars on the blue line and red line. when are they supposed to start going out again?

[ardecila]

The first set was manufactured this summer. They should be showing up on the CTA network for testing very soon, provided that CTA is making their payments on time.

[Busy Bee]

And we still dont have a single confirmed design rendering or factory spy shot?

[ChicagoChicago]

The first set was manufactured this summer. They should be showing up on the CTA network for testing very soon, provided that CTA is making their payments on time.

I thought testing was supposed to begin 1st quarter 2009.

[VivaLFuego]

I thought testing was supposed to begin 1st quarter 2009.
Though the contract was approved in June 2006, it wasn't signed actaully until October 2006, with Notice-to-Proceed either Q4 2006 or Q1 2007. That would put prototype delivery at around Q4 2009, contractually speaking. I think the unusally large time gap between contract approval and actual signature is just due to the immensity of the contract ($900+ million) and the resulting insurance/bonding requirements, ownership/ethics disclosures of the prime and multitude of sub-contractors, and so forth.

A large downside accompanies missing this winter for trial and evaluations. If the prototypes aren't delivered in time for this winter, then realistically the full order couldn't start delivery until mid-2011 at the earliest since winter testing is absolutely vital.

[VivaLFuego]

One random note on an upcoming CTA project that has received little publicity: renovation of Cermak-Chinatown on the Red Line. The primary purpose of the project is a reconstruction of the Cermak stationhouse to repair damage from the truck crash a couple years ago and add an elevator to make the station ADA compliant. However, an added bonus is that in order to aid in construction phasing, CTA will construct an auxiliary entrance on the north side of the station at Archer, which will make the station more attractive to: (a) some South Loopers (b) shoppers heading to and from the China Place/Chinatown Square mall, (c) riders transferring from the #62.

Project is mostly funded with Stimulus/ARRA money.

[ardecila]

And we still dont have a single confirmed design rendering or factory spy shot?

There have been factory spy shots, they just haven't made their way to the internet. I heard somewhere that First & Fastest magazine has photos of the cars rolling out of Bombardier's factory in New York.

[Busy Bee]

Well if anyone is a ShoreLine member, maybe you scan and post a pic???

[Chicago Shawn]

One random note on an upcoming CTA project that has received little publicity: renovation of Cermak-Chinatown on the Red Line. The primary purpose of the project is a reconstruction of the Cermak stationhouse to repair damage from the truck crash a couple years ago and add an elevator to make the station ADA compliant. However, an added bonus is that in order to aid in construction phasing, CTA will construct an auxiliary entrance on the north side of the station at Archer, which will make the station more attractive to: (a) some South Loopers (b) shoppers heading to and from the China Place/Chinatown Square mall, (c) riders transferring from the #62.

Project is mostly funded with Stimulus/ARRA money.

Well that explains why the station still has not been fixed after the accident. I will be looking forwrd to the auxillary entrance, as I go to the north end of China Town (specifically China Town Square) more frequently than the traditional corridor on Wentworth. The new entrance will also beter serve the Imperial Court Hotel, should it ever start construction.

[ardecila]

Well if anyone is a ShoreLine member, maybe you scan and post a pic???

I found this pic on Google... no larger size.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s309/msibnsf/tn-1.jpg

[emathias]

...
However, an added bonus is that in order to aid in construction phasing, CTA will construct an auxiliary entrance on the north side of the station at Archer, ...

I'm glad to see I apparently wasn't the only one writing them to request that ...

When's it set to start?

[2PRUROCKS!]

I can't understand if the article is talking about the long-discussed Peotone/Lincoln International site, or if it's talking about a completely new airport proposal at the old arsenal site, adjacent to the big BNSF intermodal project there. The two things are a long way apart.

It won't be on the old Joliet arsenal site. That land is completelly divided up between Center Point, BNSF, a land fill and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The latter takes up the vast majority of the land (over 19,000 acres out of 26,000) and is where I work. The only other possibility that might involve Army land is the Joliet Army Training site just north of the old arsenal, but I doubt that it is going there.

[bnk]

"Seeks" I wonder how long it takes to "seek" 300M?




http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=7845

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2009



CREATE Program Seeks $300 Million TIGER Grant

Projects Lead to Thousands of New Jobs, Economic & Environmental Benefits, Congestion Relief


CHICAGO –The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) today announced it is seeking $300 million in federal stimulus funds for a package of 16 projects that are part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program. CREATE is a first-of-its-kind partnership, bringing together Illinois DOT, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Illinois DOT is eligible for the funding under the federal Transportation Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition to the $300 million being sought via the federal TIGER grant, CREATE partners also have committed to an additional 39 percent match in funding – $117.4 million in state and private monies – for the program of projects outlined in the application.


....

[bnk]

dup

[arenn]

Hi - part three of my Chicago transit series. Thanks to whomever it was here a few weeks back who posted the links about the New Bundang Line:

http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2009/09/chicago-transit-from-good-to-great-part.html