CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Busy Bee]

I know the concept is still obviously in its' infancy, but is the goal to just connect to Blue @ Jeff Park or to run some of the Brown trains all the way to ORD? Obviously a passenger ped transfer connection to the Blue at Jeff Park is much different than building a rail connection to the Kennedy ROW.

[Vlajos]

I'd be ecstatic with a kimball to Jefferson Park extension of the brown line. Of course it will never happen.

[OhioGuy]

The New Lake/Damen Green Line Stop Could Transform the Near West Side
Streetsblog Chicago
By John Greenfield | Apr 25, 2018

This morning city official heralded the next step in upgrading West Side ‘L’ service as they broke ground on a new $60 million Green Line stop at Lake Street and Damen Avenue, which will bridge the 1.5-mile distance between the Green Line’s Ashland and California stations. It will be the fourth new station opened in Chicago under the Rahm Emanuel administration, also including the Green Line’s Cermak-McCormick Place stop (2015) and the Loop’s Washington-Wabash station (2017).

“Today marks a milestone in the development of the Near West Side as we begin major improvements to Lake Street that will spur even greater economic activity and improve the quality of life for everyone who lives and works in the area,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

In addition to building the station, the Chicago Department of Transportation will reconstruct a half-mile stretch of Lake from Ashland to Damen, a $12.9 million project. The roadwork will improve access for trucks in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor by increasing the vertical clearance under the tracks. It will also involve relocating support columns for the elevated tracks to make room for the new station. The Damen station is being designed by Perkins + Will, an architecture and design firm that has done the designs for transit facilities across the globe.

[OhioGuy]

So they've "broken ground" on the new Damen infill station, but have we seen any renderings of what the station will look like?

[orulz]

Originally Posted by wchicity

To connect to the Blue Line at either Montrose, or Jefferson Park.

I like the Montrose option because it allows the brown line to continue south as the mid-city transitway, connecting to Six Corners, and allows for a connection with two Metra lines instead of one.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

So they've "broken ground" on the new Damen infill station, but have we seen any renderings of what the station will look like?

No. I'm guessing they don't exist yet, or they would have been unveiled yesterday.

It sounds like this project is on a pretty accelerated timeline - expected completion in 2020. Design of the station probably is still highly conceptual, not at the rendering stage. Perkins & Will is architect.
Based on verbal descriptions, it sounds like the station will be similar to the Cicero/Lake station, with a stationhouse on the SW corner of the intersection leading up to an elevated mezzanine and then access down to both platforms.

The work being started now is just a reconstruction of the Lake Street pavement, that will lower the road surface by a few inches to better accommodate trucks. They will also relocate a few support columns at the Damen/Lake intersection like they did previously at Ogden/Lake. The station itself will not start construction until next winter.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I know the concept is still obviously in its' infancy, but is the goal to just connect to Blue @ Jeff Park or to run some of the Brown trains all the way to ORD? Obviously a passenger ped transfer connection to the Blue at Jeff Park is much different than building a rail connection to the Kennedy ROW.

I think it would need to be a transfer. The Blue Line is pretty maxed out at peak, I don't think there's enough room in the schedule to squeeze all Brown Line trains onto the Blue Line north of Jefferson Park. Ideally the Brown Line platforms would be an underground cavern two levels down, with one set of access leading directly to the Blue Line platform and another leading up to the bus plaza.

[Baronvonellis]

Good to hear they are building it, but gosh $60 million for an infill station sounds really high. Yet a stretch of road only costs $12 million to rebuild and sink it down, Wow! Trainsit is so expensive!

Then I saw the latest presentation on the red line modernization. It's going to take 7 years to rebuild just 4 stations and the tracks between them!!! Not even the whole North red line. At this rate I don't think well see anything like the brown line extension in the next 25 years, although I'd love to have that personally. I really like the idea of it going to montrose and then south along that cross town rail corridor to connect the brown line to other parts of the city as well. I think a transfer at the blue line would be fine. I don't have a problem with transfer as long as you can connect the dots. What's so great about the European train systems is you can connect the dots between almost anywhere to anywhere in the system including easy transfers to suburban trains. We need more of that here!
I think we need some kind of outer loop train that goes north and south connecting all the metra lines as well. Whether its along Western, Ashland or some other NS street I'm not really sure.

[Via Chicago]

Navy Pier Flyover Delayed Until 2020

im going to be an old man before this thing is finished

[maru2501]

even a cheaper streetcar situation that did parts of the connector would be a huge benefit

[ardecila]

The Navy Pier Flyover may be turning into a debacle, but the south side pedestrian bridges seem to be proceeding on schedule. 35th St bridge was finished pretty much on schedule (after years of seeking funding) and now 41st St is well on its way. 43rd St pedestrian bridge will be put out for bid later this year.

Road bridges at 31st and 39th will also start reconstruction this year. In 2 years' time, pretty much every bridge to the South Lakefront will be new.

Here's a full chunk of the 41st St bridge getting shipped from Missouri, courtesy of IDOT's Twitter:

[Via Chicago]

^
thats great to hear.

[OhioGuy]

City eyes light rail route from North Side to downtown
By Ryan OriContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune
May 2, 2018, 3:40 PM

Light rail train linking North Side neighborhoods to downtown Chicago and an extension of The 606 elevated trail are part of a plan starting to take shape to accommodate the expected arrival of thousands of new residents and workers along near the Chicago River along the Lincoln Park area and Bucktown.

The potential for adding a passenger train line is a new twist on the city’s previously disclosed concept of a transit way that would run from about Armitage Avenue south through the center of Goose Island. The transit way previously was mentioned as an area that could include bus-only lanes and paths for bikes and pedestrians.

But the city and Lincoln Yards developer Sterling Bay are in the early stages of planning a passenger train line or bus lane that could extend as far south as Grand Avenue, mostly on existing freight-train tracks. The new rail line eventually could be linked to downtown train stations, according to Peter Strazzabosco, a spokesman for the city’s planning department.

img source

[OhioGuy]

If only there was a convenient way to connect this potential rail route and the red/brown/purple lines.

[the urban politician]

Or bus lane

That’s all I needed to read. Let me remove everyone’s excitement.

There will be no rail, light or heavy, built here. Ever.

It will be a bus.

Now moving on....

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

That’s all I needed to read. Let me remove everyone’s excitement.

There will be no rail, light or heavy, built here. Ever.

It will be a bus.

Now moving on....

I don't see anything wrong with bus rapid transit. Those side streets have few people parking on them, and zero residents to worry about. If these streets can be closed to traffic and reserved for buses and deliveries only with limited bus stops, that's just as fast as a rail line.

Also, buses can leave the transitway at the north and south ends, and fan out to link with CTA and Metra stations in mixed traffic. Rail doesn't have that flexibility, it couldn't link with other transportation unless the city extended the tracks and the power lines through residential neighborhoods at great cost, and frustrated everyone during the process. You think the Lincoln Park NIMBYs would put up with streetcar tracks down the middle of Southport?

Arlington, VA


Seattle

[the urban politician]

^ Good Point

[left of center]

I'm just glad the city is smart enough to reserve the ROW now while nothing has yet been built and there's no developments or residents to get in the way of it. BRT is fine by me, at least initially. Once ridership numbers go through the roof as the area is developed, then the city can consider upgrading to light rail.

Like OhioGuy said, I wish there was a way to connect to the Red/Brown lines, and I'd throw in the Blue and UP Metra lines as well.

[MayorOfChicago]

I'm assuming this will run down by the metra stations and also with that alignment there can be another offshoot on the same "system" that runs down carroll? I would love it if they did this, so i assume they wont.

[k1052]

Glenview wants to spend about half a million bucks to prevent upgrades on the Hiawatha.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...510-story.html

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by k1052

Glenview wants to spend about half a million bucks to prevent upgrades on the Hiawatha.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...510-story.html

People in Glenview need to be kicked in the nuts

I'd be so pissed if they wasted my tax dollars over fighting a measly 3 additional round trips. Its impact is minimal, as compared to freight trains.

The snobbery in America has reached epic levels. People need an ass whippin'