Blue Line O'Hare Project

[Busjack]

Slightly more detail from "will be announced" to "was announced." About the only pertinent one here is, as predicted:

The Blue Line will remain open, unlike the recently completed Red Line South project, which kept the line south of Cermak Road closed for six months. CTA officials said today that riders should expect periodic weekend closures of sections of the O'Hare Branch. Alternate service such as shuttle buses, will be provided.

Can't really expect someone paying $5.00 at O'Hare to get on a B56 bus to crawl downtown.

The article also indicated that there were sources of the funds, although only $86 million in state funding was announced.

The Press Release has more details about the scope of the planned improvements.

[sw4400]

Slightly more detail from "will be announced" to "was announced." About the only pertinent one here is, as predicted:

The Blue Line will remain open, unlike the recently completed Red Line South project, which kept the line south of Cermak Road closed for six months. CTA officials said today that riders should expect periodic weekend closures of sections of the O'Hare Branch. Alternate service such as shuttle buses, will be provided.

Can't really expect someone paying $5.00 at O'Hare to get on a B56 bus to crawl downtown.

The article also indicated that there were sources of the funds, although only $86 million in state funding was announced.

The Press Release has more details about the scope of the planned improvements.

Also, with O-Hare being the one of the busiest airports in the U.S, I don't think they can shut down that branch unless it was really necessary. The only way to do that would be if the CTA put every Artic in their rosters to run Shuttles to and from O-Hare, plus order another 100-200 more. Even then, 400 Artics may still not be enough to cover service. Then where does that leave routes that need Artics like the Lake Shore routes, 152 for Lane Tech and Cubs runs and the 154?

O-Hare serves about 200,000 people a day. More on Holidays and travel seasons like Summer, I'm sure.

[Busjack]

...

O-Hare serves about 200,000 people a day. More on Holidays and travel seasons like Summer, I'm sure.

I really doubt that that many take the Blue Line, as opposed to airport shuttles, taxis, rent a car, etc.

The Aug. Ridership report indicates 11,000 boardings a day. I guess one can assume as many departures. I'll bet (based on the stories about the $5 fare), most of them are airport employees.

If one wanted to tally the number of shuttle buses, one would have to consider all the stations on the branch. That would get you to 82,000, which admittedly is more than the about 32,000 on the April Ridership Report for the Red Line stations that didn't have parallel Red Line service on the Green Line tracks. I suppose that a few riders could be convinced to continue to the Brown Line.

[mkohut]

Also, with O-Hare being the one of the busiest airports in the U.S, I don't think they can shut down that branch unless it was really necessary. The only way to do that would be if the CTA put every Artic in their rosters to run Shuttles to and from O-Hare, plus order another 100-200 more. Even then, 400 Artics may still not be enough to cover service. Then where does that leave routes that need Artics like the Lake Shore routes, 152 for Lane Tech and Cubs runs and the 154?

O-Hare serves about 200,000 people a day. More on Holidays and travel seasons like Summer, I'm sure.

I would hate to see then try to use any buses..Rush Hour would be a mess .Especially with no shoulder to ride on.I doubt there would be even room for bypass.

[Busjack]

I would hate to see then try to use any buses..Rush Hour would be a mess .Especially with no shoulder to ride on.I doubt there would be even room for bypass.

IDOT would have to close the express lanes, but it was reported that the Kennedy is already overloaded.

[MetroShadow]

I would hate to see then try to use any buses..Rush Hour would be a mess .Especially with no shoulder to ride on.I doubt there would be even room for bypass.

Maybe Quinn and the College Clowns can pressure Metra to increase service on the NCS to get people into the city [quicker]

[Busjack]

Maybe Quinn and the College Clowns can pressure Metra to increase service on the NCS to get people into the city [quicker]

That would have only marginal impact, as the only relevant joint point of service would be the Metra station far out in the parking lot. Also, CN would have to be persuaded to get freights out of the way, and CN never can be.

If one can take seriously (and I can't) my point that all stations would be impacted, cooperating with Metra with regard to the UP-NW line would make more sense, but it appears already to be at capacity.

Anyway, there isn't going to be that kind of shutdown.

[MetroShadow]

That would have only marginal impact, as the only relevant joint point of service would be the Metra station far out in the parking lot. Also, CN would have to be persuaded to get freights out of the way, and CN never can be.

If one can take seriously (and I can't) my point that all stations would be impacted, cooperating with Metra with regard to the UP-NW line would make more sense, but it appears already to be at capacity.

Anyway, there isn't going to be that kind of shutdown.

I can't think of anything other than weekend bustitutions or single-tracking being implemented.

[2200fan]

I don't know if this is practical but wonder if they can make assembled sections and drop them in on weekends. The same way they did the Pink line.

[mkohut]

IDOT would have to close the express lanes, but it was reported that the Kennedy is already overloaded.

In all likely hood.There are probably going to have to be lanes close to bring new rail,spikes,.

[Sam92]

In all likely hood.There are probably going to have to be lanes close to bring new rail,spikes,.

they aren't doing the track on the Kennedy though so there wouldn't be lane closures for that. The trackwork is occuring on the Elevated portion to the Kimball subway and for some reason more work in the Dearborn subway. (why the need for more track work there?) The Kennedy is getting station, signal work and special trackwork in the Rosemont yard.

[geneking7320]

Forgive me for asking here but is this likely to push back the much needed work on the north end of the Red Line?

[mkohut]

Forgive me for asking here but is this likely to push back the much needed work on the north end of the Red Line?

That is a good Question.I don't even think they made a decision on what type of rehab job there going to do on it.

[Busjack]

That is a good Question.I don't even think they made a decision on what type of rehab job there going to do on it.

You are right in that it is still in the "vision stage," and as usual (but unlike this) no source of funding has been found, according to da Mare.

[MetroShadow]

You are right in that it is still in the "vision stage," and as usual (but unlike this) no source of funding has been found, according to da Mare.

They've got the green light to apply for funding under the "New Starts" but that's about it. No source has been identified as of now...

[garmon757]

Not to jump off this topic but in some ways I'm kinda disappointed of the decision of reconstructing Milwaukee-O'Hare branch of the Blue Line if the Congress Branch of 50+ years miraculously need an extraordinary amount of work. I don't want to say that it's bs but I am having some concerns about their agenda.

[MetroShadow]

Not to jump off this topic but in some ways I'm kinda disappointed of the decision of reconstructing Milwaukee-O'Hare branch of the Blue Line if the Congress Branch of 50+ years miraculously need an extraordinary amount of work. I don't want to say that it's bs but I am having some concerns about their agenda.

As valid as that sounds, DOT intends on reconfiguring that as part of the I-290 project (and that in itself has to be addressed because that expressway isn't as sustainable as it once was), that too, should be done (later rather than sooner). Rebuilding that entire stretch is going to be a pain to do/re-do, versus dealing with a section in the middle of the expressway. Once the consultants are done figuring out the best method to address the 290 needs, then a plan to rebuild that line would then be addressed on how to fix it.

(And I travel on that stretch from Hipsterville to O'Hare--the stretch from Damen to Addison is annoyingly slow where I can't make my connections out of Rosemont--often by mere seconds)

[garmon757]

As valid as that sounds, DOT intends on reconfiguring that as part of the I-290 project (and that in itself has to be addressed because that expressway isn't as sustainable as it once was), that too, should be done (later rather than sooner). Rebuilding that entire stretch is going to be a pain to do/re-do, versus dealing with a section in the middle of the expressway. Once the consultants are done figuring out the best method to address the 290 needs, then a plan to rebuild that line would then be addressed on how to fix it.

(And I travel on that stretch from Hipsterville to O'Hare--the stretch from Damen to Addison is annoyingly slow where I can't make my connections out of Rosemont--often by mere seconds)

You have an exemplary point. Fixing the Congress Branch between Cicero and Halsted shouldn't be that much of a big deal. The turning point if they ever to reconstruct the branch is the Oak Park segment between Austin and Harlem because of speculations of trying to stretch the ike from 3 to 4 lanes starting from Central Avenue. I'm starting to wonder if the branch is useless to reconstruct.

[BusHunter]

Not to jump off this topic but in some ways I'm kinda disappointed of the decision of reconstructing Milwaukee-O'Hare branch of the Blue Line if the Congress Branch of 50+ years miraculously need an extraordinary amount of work. I don't want to say that it's bs but I am having some concerns about their agenda.

Yeah but the milwaukee elevated section is very old. I kind of like what CTA mentioned in the press release about doing something about the leaks in the milwaukee subway. That section has alot of water related issues and needs to be cleaned up. Just a station renewal doesn't really address this. Hopefully they can put acoustical panels and station pictures like they did on the state street subway stations. That would give the stations a nice look.

BTW, I wonder where they plan to put an elevator at Addison Blue line? The platforms are kind of narrow. They could always build a south side entrance with one and put a pedestrian walkway under Addison like what's done at Montrose

[westing]

There is a planned development at Grand that will give the CTA much needed space for an elevator or bus shelter. An article in Chicago Architecture Info has some renderings showing the space. That whole intersection has such narrow sidewalks, being given that space is a boon for the CTA.

It would be interesting to see if the scope of Grand is increased to include elevators should extra money appear and this development project actually comes to fruition.

[garmon757]

Yeah but the milwaukee elevated section is very old. I kind of like what CTA mentioned in the press release about doing something about the leaks in the milwaukee subway. That section has alot of water related issues and needs to be cleaned up. Just a station renewal doesn't really address this. Hopefully they can put acoustical panels and station pictures like they did on the state street subway stations. That would give the stations a nice look.

BTW, I wonder where they plan to put an elevator at Addison Blue line? The platforms are kind of narrow. They could always build a south side entrance with one and put a pedestrian walkway under Addison like what's done at Montrose

That's understandable and thanks for that information. As far as having an elevator at Addison, hey anything is possible if you can make it possible but I think it's way too narrow to insert a walkway on the opposite side though. To be very blunt with you, I'm really bummed out that the reconstruction didn't happen on the Congress Branch. These abandoned stations (California, Kostner, and Central), lack of ADA accessible stations, slow zones, and the conditions most of these stations are dealing with makes the west side look like crap. The Blue Line have 20 stations (9 on Congress Branch including Clinton and LaSalle, 2 in the Dearborn Subway, and 9 on Milwaukee-O'Hare Branch) out of 33 aren't ADA accessible. That is highly inexcusable for it to be one of the top 4 busiest lines to have such staggering numbers like that. Don't get me wrong, it's good to hear that the Blue Line is being brought back to life with the reconstruction and everything to provide a better, faster commute but how long can the Congress Branch suffer?

[Sam92]

An article on the home page says that turnback tracks are going to be constructed at Jefferson Park and UIC Halsted to give the choice of turning back trains in the rush period. Well, that's already been a practice for a while now... Either the real plan is to rebuild the existing middle tracks at their respective locations and was misinterpreted or they really meant what they said and are building a whole new track just for that purpose. Here's the link: http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78442073/

[Busjack]

An article on the home page says that turnback tracks are going to be constructed at Jefferson Park and UIC Halsted to give the choice of turning back trains in the rush period. Well, that's already been a practice for a while now... Either the real plan is to rebuild the existing middle tracks at their respective locations and was misinterpreted or they really meant what they said and are building a whole new track just for that purpose. Here's the link: http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78442073/

As you note, if it is just that, it is redundant. I really doubt that they would put in some sort of loop, like at the north end of Howard.

It also appears that mentions of signals (Claypool was also quoted about it on the radio) is redundant of the 2006-2009 Dearborn/Congress/Kennedy/Block 37 signal project. At least on the Dan Ryan, they said that the contractor checked that the existing signal system was working before the tracks were ripped out, as well as when the line was slated to reeopen. Maybe they are overblowing "upgraded."

The station upgrades also seem downgraded, in that the article says only Addison will get an elevator, and the rest are like the Red Line north, which was characterized as temporary repairs.

Notable is the later part of the article is dumping a shovelful of dirt on the grave of Daley's delusions.

[BusHunter]

I don't see why they don't want to put in a concrete platform at jeff pk, if they are going to put one at Addison. I would spruce up all the elevator equipped stations just to finish them up and get those to at least as good as what was done on the ryan. Maybe then fixthe others when funding becomes available. By the looks of the construction diagram Belmont doesn't look like it's getting any upgrades.

[Sam92]

As you note, if it is just that, it is redundant. I really doubt that they would put in some sort of loop, like at the north end of Howard.

It also appears that mentions of signals (Claypool was also quoted about it on the radio) is redundant of the 2006-2009 Dearborn/Congress/Kennedy/Block 37 signal project. At least on the Dan Ryan, they said that the contractor checked that the existing signal system was working before the tracks were ripped out, as well as when the line was slated to reeopen. Maybe they are overblowing "upgraded."

The station upgrades also seem downgraded, in that the article says only Addison will get an elevator, and the rest are like the Red Line north, which was characterized as temporary repairs.

Notable is the later part of the article is dumping a shovelful of dirt on the grave of Daley's delusions.

I remember that project only covering signals up to Jefferson Park but I could be wrong and will double check. The upgrades here are beyond Jefferson Park to O'Hare which wouldn't be redundant in that case, I'll flips through some more documents from that time to be sure though.