CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Busy Bee]

Haha, a diesel generator is no substitution for the instantaneous juice you get from a 25kV overhead line. It's like the difference between a Dustbuster and a Shop-Vac.

[M II A II R II K]

Water taxi service may expand for new riverfront developments

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...611-story.html

.....

- Planned development along the river has led to talks between Chicago Water Taxi, part of Wendella Sightseeing, and builders about adding new stops north and south of downtown, starting in the next two to three years. --- “We think it’s a no-brainer to add a couple more and make it an amenity for the thousands of residents and employees we’re going to have at Goose Island,” said Zack Cupkovic, director of special projects for R2 Cos., which owns about 10 percent of Goose Island as well as the Morton Salt property. The developer plans office space, bars and restaurants and entertainment for the sites.

.....

[jpIllInoIs]

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association is asking for a letter writing (email&twitter) campaign support for the Cross Rail initiative. Link Here
You can read all about Cross Rail HERE
I believe in the CrossRail because it makes higher use of the MED/IC line and connects that line to CUS and west Loop and provides a one seat ride to Ohare for Southsiders and Hyde Parkers. Crossrail also envisions a stop at the "78" development and at Ashland Ave in Fulton Market. Providing links to our hottest sub market and to our next mega project.
Its an ambitous plan but one that modernizes existing assets Like the 2 bypass tracks that exist in CUS and the MDW rail row to Ohare.
There are grander plans envisioned like a tunnel tracks part of the West Loop Gateway station which would include the Clinton St Subway adn a tunnel track into the OHare terminals and possibly beyond. As in all major projects it will be incremental.
Anyway the link above is the least I or anyone can do to show support....

[the urban politician]

Car2Go coming to Chicago:

https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/8/9/...cago-car-share

[Mister Uptempo]

I haven't seen this virtual walkthrough of the CTA Damen Green Line station posted yet...

• Video Link
src - Mayor's Office YouTube

Direct link to the video if it fails to appear in the post.

[the urban politician]

^ Nice, there even appears to be a lookout on that overhead crosswalk

[DCCliff]

Sorry, I'm less than impressed. There appears to be no paid entry access from the north side of Lake St. This will become THE United Center station; and further adjacent development will be encouraged. The resulting wear and tear on the stair sets, the bridge, and the SINGLE escalator on the south side will render this place a wreck in 2 years' time. I regret being negative; but I just can't get over the feeling that I'm getting the good old razzle-dazzle here to cover up poor and thoughtless engineering and flow.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by DCCliff

Sorry, I'm less than impressed. There appears to be no paid entry access from the north side of Lake St. This will become THE United Center station; and further adjacent development will be encouraged. The resulting wear and tear on the stair sets, the bridge, and the SINGLE escalator on the south side will render this place a wreck in 2 years' time. I regret being negative; but I just can't get over the feeling that I'm getting the good old razzle-dazzle here to cover up poor and thoughtless engineering and flow.

I had the same concerns but the Ashland stop already provides a guide for the traffic patterns at the Damen station... most traffic comes from one side, or transfers from buses at the station doorstep. Very few pedestrians heading north into the industrial corridor. Even if they do, Lake isn’t a wide auto sewer like Western. Not hard to cross on foot.

Eventually the north exits can very easily be upgraded with high barrier gates if/when development comes to that north side. That probably won’t happen unless/until the PMD is opened up to residential. High-density office like Fulton Market seems unlikely given the 2 mile distance to Metra. For now it’s just a ComEd vehicle yard and other auto-oriented uses until you get up to Fulton.

Also you might be overestimating the wear and tear factor... this station is not really any closer to the United Center than the existing IMD stop on the Blue Line. It won’t be like Addison on game days.

[DCCliff]

food for thought; thanks.

[clark wellington]

But it's sort of stupid to build this station without the idea that the PMD will be opened up, right? If not, feels like the money could be better spent elsewhere (really, I just want them to open up the PMD though).

Separately, why not create entrances on the north side? I would assume it's not very expensive to install the barrier gates you mention. Why not do it? I say this as someone who tried to go up the north side of the Ashland station yesterday...

Frankly, I think having two *real* entrances (like most other stations) is way more valuable than the huge showcase entrance they are planning.

[aaron38]

Construction on the new ‘Belmont Gateway’ Blue Line station presses forward
https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/9/17...eway-blue-line

This station design makes no sense to me. Those big roof petals are angled up to the north, meaning that the entrance is completely exposed to driving rain and blowing snow coming out of NW & NE storms. No protection from wind at all.
Why not build a real station that is built for people, instead of this worthless piece of modern art?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by clark wellington

But it's sort of stupid to build this station without the idea that the PMD will be opened up, right? If not, feels like the money could be better spent elsewhere (really, I just want them to open up the PMD though).

Separately, why not create entrances on the north side? I would assume it's not very expensive to install the barrier gates you mention. Why not do it? I say this as someone who tried to go up the north side of the Ashland station yesterday...

Frankly, I think having two *real* entrances (like most other stations) is way more valuable than the huge showcase entrance they are planning.

I’m not sure how ADA is construed by CTA, FTA, and MOPD, but they may frown upon a high-barrier gate entrance to the westbound platform that is only usable by the able-bodied. You could say the same about the exit-only stairs, but those are needed in case of emergency so a different standard applies.

As for the PMD, it seems very unlikely that the city will permit residential here in the foreseeable future. Even the Fulton Market portion of the Kinzie Corridor PMD that was repealed east of Ogden is still zoned for manufacturing and office/commercial uses only. But the city will present its draft recommendations for the remainder of the corridor on Oct 9 so I guess we will see then.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I’m not sure how ADA is construed by CTA, FTA, and MOPD, but they may frown upon a high-barrier gate entrance to the westbound platform that is only usable by the able-bodied. You could say the same about the exit-only stairs, but those are needed in case of emergency so a different standard applies.

As for the PMD, it seems very unlikely that the city will permit residential here in the foreseeable future. Even the Fulton Market portion of the Kinzie Corridor PMD that was repealed east of Ogden is still zoned for manufacturing and office/commercial uses only. But the city will present its draft recommendations for the remainder of the corridor on Oct 9 so I guess we will see then.

One of the chief things I dislike about Morgan is how the dual station houses almost close off the sidewalks on the East side of Lake St so I'm glad that option wasn't selected here.

There is no need for residential between Lake and Grand IMO. When the PMD is eventually stripped it I'd expect it to be for office and hospitality like the section east of Ogden. Lots of buildable land south of Lake for residential.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I’m not sure how ADA is construed by CTA, FTA, and MOPD, but they may frown upon a high-barrier gate entrance to the westbound platform that is only usable by the able-bodied. You could say the same about the exit-only stairs, but those are needed in case of emergency so a different standard applies.

As for the PMD, it seems very unlikely that the city will permit residential here in the foreseeable future. Even the Fulton Market portion of the Kinzie Corridor PMD that was repealed east of Ogden is still zoned for manufacturing and office/commercial uses only. But the city will present its draft recommendations for the remainder of the corridor on Oct 9 so I guess we will see then.

I don't know why any agency would construe the ADA to mandate equal access to every entrance and exit. Plenty of buildings have some access points that are only accessible via stairs. The ADA is a good thing, but requiring expensive universal access to every possible means of entrance doesn't seem like it's in the public interest.

[bnk]

I found an old CREATE video from 3 years ago. The video is actually scary how FUBAR'ed up it is down there.
Any news on the 75th flyover mess?


http://www.createprogram.org/projects.htm



• Video Link

The Englewood flyover is done [ completed in 2014 ] but what project is being made currently on the 75th Street Corridor [ considered the worst bottleneck in the entire region ] at this point?

Frees up space for increased intercity passenger rail trains at Chicago Union Station by shifting a growing commuter rail line to another downtown terminal that has spare capacity, eliminates delay for commuters and increases speed and capacity for all trains.

I can't find any ground breaking or news lately on it.


It seems we have a lot to still do to finish CREATE to meet its final solution.


This is the best I could find on the news.




https://www.railwayage.com/mw/create...on-from-usdot/

June 12, 2018 132 million from USDOT

…

The 75th Street CIP will eliminate Belt Junction, one of the most congested rail chokepoints in the region, which sees 32 Metra and Amtrak and 98 CSX, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific and Belt Railway of Chicago freight trains per day. When complete, it will eliminate 18,500 annual passenger hours of delay by removing conflicts between freight and commuter trains, increase capacity at Chicago Union Station, decrease train idling, improve air quality in the surrounding neighborhoods and replace or rehabilitate 36 viaducts for increased mobility.
To date, 29 out of 70 CREATE projects have been completed, with five more projects under construction and 17 in various stages of design.









…


Man this needs to get done already..... Any movement on it yet? We should follow this as much as some of our buildings. 132 from the fed is a start but this looks like a multi Billion dollar knot to untie. I expect it will take more than 2 years as this Trib article stated.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...605-story.html

State gets $132 million federal grant to reduce South Side railroad delays

According to IDOT, one of the advantages of the project is that it would connect Metra's SouthWest Service to the Rock Island Line around 74th Street and Normal Avenue, which would allow the service to terminate at the underused LaSalle Street station rather than at clogged Union Station, thus reducing delays and freeing capacity for more intercity rail service.

The project will take two years to finish, according to IDOT. When complete, it will cut 18,500 annual passenger hours of delay, according to CREATE, a public-private effort to increase the efficiency of the passenger and freight rail infrastructure in the nation's busiest railroad hub.
“This is a big win for our region,” Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., said in a statement.
Construction is expected to start this fall.










http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...709-story.html



The timeline on a fully completed CREATE could look make the TARP deep tunnel look quick. Besides both Lipinski's what did Obama do for CREATE when he was around. He had his own transportation secretary from LaHood that IMO could have done a lot more federal dollars on this one instead of the politically failed somewhat faster intercity rail network that got killed in the House or Reps.


Obama really did not throw enough bones $ on this one when he had the chance while still in office IMO.


I found a bit more of it but it still hasn't happened yet


https://www.businessinsider.com/chic...urts-us-2016-7

This spot in Chicago is the epitome of a more than $100 billion problem facing America


In real, economic terms, the Chicago rail hub could potentially affect somewhere between $657 billion and $799 billion annually, according to the same Amtrak study.











According to all news thus far only 1/4 of the billions have been spent yet and likewise only a 1/4 of CREATE is finished.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by bnk

132 from the fed is a start but this looks like a multi Billion dollar knot to untie. I expect it will take more than 2 years as this Trib article stated.

According to all news thus far only 1/4 of the billions have been spent yet and likewise only a 1/4 of CREATE is finished.

The $132M Federal grant is adding to another few hundred million coming from AAR (the freight railroads), IDOT, City of Chicago and Metra. Total budget for Phase I (the Forest Hill Flyover and other track work) is $474M, all of which is secured now. The Phase II is currently unfunded.

Unfortunately the way these things work, the engineers can't start seriously designing the thing until the entire funding structure is in place, so there's usually a lag of at least a year or two before construction can begin. Longer if there is land acquisition involved. That's why Obama's famous stimulus package for "shovel-ready" projects didn't deliver much, because projects almost never become shovel-ready until the money is there.

As for CREATE, the overall plan got scaled back quite a bit from the original scheme when Canadian National decided to bail on CREATE and instead purchased the EJ&E Railroad that encircles the city. Multiple projects were designed specifically to assist CN's trains in moving through Chicago faster, but now that issue is moot. CREATE still keeps these projects on their wishlist, though, so a lot of news articles understate the progress.

[Mr Downtown]

^It's worth mentioning that CN is about to begin reconstruction of the St. Charles Air Line (the line that runs through the South Loop at 1530 S). They'll be replacing overpasses built for four tracks at Michigan, Wabash, State, Dearborn, and Clark with new single-track spans that don't need any pillars within the street ROW. The centerline of the single remaining track will be moved to the north slightly in order to ease the curves at either end a tiny bit. All bridges except Dearborn will be Cor-Ten steel. The decorative ironwork at Michigan will be saved and—possibly—donated to someone who wants it.

Nothing will be done with the now-unused portion of the ROW, south of the active tracks, and the unused abutments will remain. Officially, that's supposedly because the actual ownership of the SCAL is a partnership, and so BNSF or UP might conceivably have rights to a second track there (the SCAL was never an actual corporation, but just a handshake deal between four of Chicago's earliest railroads). I suspect the real reason is that CN expects to be bought out at market rates if the city ever wants to do a greenway up there, connecting lakefront to riverwalk.

[Tcmetro]

I'm surprised that they are bothering with a reconstruction. I was under the impression that the planned reconfiguration of Grand Crossing would make the SCAL and the tracks adjacent to the Metra Electric line unnecessary.

[Busy Bee]

SCAL....

Absolutely no mention of the possibility of use as an entry point for hsr. Sad.

[Mr Downtown]

Why would there be? The state has chosen the Rock Island alignment as the preferred HSR corridor between Chicago and Joliet.

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

reconfiguration of Grand Crossing would make the SCAL and the tracks adjacent to the Metra Electric line unnecessary.

While that would allow Amtrak trains from Champaign to avoid the SCAL, it does nothing to move trains to and from CN's Freeport Sub.