Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias
Ignoring the Loop would be like ignoring Midtown in New York. Sure, you need other things going on, but the Loop is still the economic nexus of the City and it would be unnecessarily risky to just ignore it and emphasize other parts of the city. We do need to have more than just the Loop, but we do still also need the Loop - it's a unique feature that partially defines Chicago
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Point taken. It's endlessly frustrating that Metra essentially ignores everything between the downtown terminals and the city line. I might have been compensating for this a little bit by intentionally downplaying the Loop.
Do you think a station with sufficient capacity could be built in the Loop? It would instantly become one of, if not the busiest station on the system. I'm trying to figure out where you'd put it... beneath Monroe from State to Clark? Then, how would you approach a Monroe subway from the various rail lines leading into the Central Area? Turn radii are severely constrained by the deep foundations of skyscrapers (a problem that Paris doesn't have).
For comparison, the curve leading into the north end of Union Station is roughly 375'. Shorter rolling stock might allow for tighter curves, but you don't wanna get railcars as short as the L, since they're not really comfortable at high speeds.