Idea for 51 51st Street Route

[ctaboy]

Instead of the route 51 51st Street going westbound to Kedzie Orange Line, it could go to Pulaski Orange Line, because Pulaski Orange Line is on 51st/Pulaski.

51 51st could visit Kedzie Orange Line,then left turn on 47th Street,then continue down 47th to Pulaski,then left turn down pulaski to 51st.

Instead of going eastbound to 47th Red Line, it could go to 47th/Lake Park.

It could left-turn on 51st/Halsted,then right turn on 47th/Halsted, stop at 47th Red Line,then go straight down 47th Street to the 47th + Lake Park Terminal.

[Busjack]

Instead of the route 51 51st Street going westbound to Kedzie Orange Line, it could go to Pulaski Orange Line, because Pulaski Orange Line is on 51st/Pulaski.

Instead of going eastbound to 47th Red Line, it could go to 47th/Lake Park.

It could left-turn on 51st/Halsted,then right turn on 47th/Halsted, stop at 47th Red Line,then go straight down 47th Street to the 47th + Lake Park Terminal.

The 51st Lake Park (actually 47th Lake Park) was tried before the decision was made to replace it with the 15.

[Kevin]

Instead of the route 51 51st Street going westbound to Kedzie Orange Line, it could go to Pulaski Orange Line, because Pulaski Orange Line is on 51st/Pulaski.

And how exactly do you propose routing the 51 to Pulaski?

[BUSANGEL#1]

51st was split because the traffic generators are different on the east and west sides of 51st. There is a higher demand for service on east 51st/Hyde Park than west 51st. This is why #15 has a better schedule as far as frequency and length of time versus #51. Also the ridership is just not consistent on 51st as it is on 47th.

[RJL6000]

Instead of the route 51 51st Street going westbound to Kedzie Orange Line, it could go to Pulaski Orange Line, because Pulaski Orange Line is on 51st/Pulaski.

Instead of going eastbound to 47th Red Line, it could go to 47th/Lake Park.

It could left-turn on 51st/Halsted,then right turn on 47th/Halsted, stop at 47th Red Line,then go straight down 47th Street to the 47th + Lake Park Terminal.

This routing is unfeasible for two reasons:

1. The easternmost portion of the route was tried before. The decision to split the two sections into two separate routes was based on ridership patterns. The current #51 has much lower ridership than the eastern portion of the old 51st Street route now covered by the #15 Jeffery Local.

2. Extending the #51 westward to the Pulaski/Orange Line station is impossible because 51st Street itself does not run all the way through to Pulaski Road; instead, the two-way portion of 51st street ends two blocks east of Pulaski at Springfield Avenue (a one-way street going southbound), while the westernmost block between Springfield and Harding Avenues is one-way going eastbound with a very tight curve at that junction. As such, the westbound #51 runs would have had to turn south on Springfield all the way down to 54th Street just to exit onto Pulaski, while eastbound buses would have had to use 53rd Street three blocks east to Avers before turning northbound. That routing would have come close enough to have duplicated the #53A and the #55 for the few blocks of operation. The only other alternative would have been to route #51 onto Lawndale Avenue between 51st and Archer, but then it would have duplicated the #62 over there. At one point the #51 actually did operate west of Kedzie Avenue to St. Louis Avenue, but that was discontinued after the opening of the Kedzie Orange Line station.