Isn’t the $50 million cost old news? I’m pretty sure much of the cost is your typical large American city public works cost bloat, but unlike Morgan
Cermak will be an island station—I wonder if that might require some more track work.
Still, it’s a lot for a station that fills a very narrow niche. Whereas the station at Morgan followed redevelopment in the West Loop (with the caveat that I recall reading that it was considered as part of the Lake Street reconstruction), the Cermak station seems to be intended as a means of leading redevelopment in Motor Row—that’s a risky proposition, and the fact that the are is typically discussed as a future “entertainment district” rather than a dense community full of housing. Combined with the fact that there’s a fair amount of transit infrastructure nearby (What’s happening to the South Lakefront study? And sure the block of Cermak between Clark and State is a bit imposing to walk through, but is it $50 million worth of imposing?), it all makes me wonder whether the station serves much of a purpose beyond burning off TIF money on something useful-looking.
Anyway, in less cynical news this should be of interest to a lot of forumers:
Quote:
CTA Station Watch officially launched
Press release, May 30, 2012
A new website at ctastationwatch.com is asking transit riders and construction buffs to share what they see every day as the Chicago Transit Authority embarks on a complex series of station rebuilds on the North Red Line.
[…]
Started by long-time transit watchers Patrick Barry and Kevin O’Neil, the site allows crowdsourced sharing of information via Twitter feeds (@stationCTA), a Facebook page and a group pool of photos on Flickr. Over Memorial Day weekend, for instance, O’Neil tweeted that Kiewit workers were tearing the roof off a former currency exchange under the Morse "L" station. Barry noticed rail ties and other materials stockpiled in a fenced lot on Broadway south of Foster.
“This is going to be a ton of fun for all of us who like watching public works projects,” said Barry, an urban issues writer for the last 31 years. “By tapping the eyes and ears of the riders and neighborhood residents, we’ll be able to track the action on a day-to-day basis.”
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Might be worth following and contributing to…