Where Whould You Plan An Infill Station?

[MetroShadow]

Division on the Brown seems like an obvious gap to me. Especially since the area around there has been cleaned up and more is starting to get built.

I went to Payton. Didn't need it then (14 years ago), still don't care for it or need it now.

[BusHunter]

Other than 924/925, Pace isn't interested in it (as indicated that anything other than the BOS ones have been dropped). It isn't going to save travel time if the bus is stuck on the Kennedy Expressway. I don't think there is anywhere to run BOS there, and the Kennedy is already at its lane limit (as explained in stories on why the reversibles no longer work). Also, the BOS justification of "nothing else available" doesn't apply.

You may say Pace is not interested in this, but it fascinates me then as to why the #924 and #925 are still running even though the Dan Ryan red line is finished. If they can run a Stevenson express and the #924/#925 why not try it. There are shoulders they could use on the Kennedy. I think this is the future. If they can't expand out with the "L' lines why not run a BRT like Rapid Transit bus. Seems to work for LA.

@Garmon757: I don't think it would disturb the Blue line, not any more than the #924/#925 is disturbing the south side red line. If anything it would improve service, by taking all the outlying commuters off the 'L' system and giving them and the inner city Chicagoians faster service with more standing room.

[Busjack]

You may say Pace is not interested in this, but it fascinates me then as to why the #924 and #925 are still running even though the Dan Ryan red line is finished. If they can run a Stevenson express and the #924/#925 why not try it. There are shoulders they could use on the Kennedy. I think this is the future. If they can't expand out with the "L' lines why not run a BRT like Rapid Transit bus. Seems to work for LA.

@Garmon757: I don't think it would disturb the Blue line, not any more than the #924/#925 is disturbing the south side red line. If anything it would improve service, by taking all the outlying commuters off the 'L' system and giving them and the inner city Chicagoians faster service with more standing room.

Since today is Nov. 25, Pace is no longer running 924/925.

Pace has stated a clear policy that it is not running into the central city if there is an existing service. It may have taken a while before it cut 210, 355, and 835, but it eventually did, on that basis. For instance, in the case of 355, Pace acknowledged that there was sufficient ridership, but it wasn't willing to pay the $1-$2 million annual operating expense.

The two justifications for 755/855 is that there is no parallel Metra service, and Pace is under a statutory duty to run it as a BRT service. While apparently some road work is needed to have it run on the shoulder in the Chicago portion, I-55, when last rebuilt, was built with a wide enough inner shoulder to allow BOS. One certainly can't say the same for the Kennedy Expressway, in which case the bus would be stuck in the 1 hour travel time to O"Hare, as opposed to the scheduled 40 minutes on the L, not to mention that a premium route would involve a $4 fare to sit in traffic.

The only argument that possibly could be made is that 855 could have ended at the Pulaski Orange Line, but I don't think Pace would have saved much doing that, and would have ticked off the southwest suburban legislators (especially Dan Lipinski).

[BusHunter]

Sorry, I wasn't sure the #924 and #925 were still running either. I went to the Pace website and they still have timetables for them so I assumed they were still running.

[CircleSeven]

I really doubt that Evanston cares about a station to get to Howard-Western Plaza on the other side of the city line.

There were some senior centers and the like near Dodge and Oakton, but apparently not enough to sway the alternatives analysis.

I'll say throw that AA study out the window and break the bank and make it anyway. That's my take. But you know that's not going to happen, anytime soon, if ever.

Who said that there only has to be a 1/2 mile between stations? There is nothing wrong with the gap between Jefferson Pk and Harlem.. If it were possible to break the Blue Line into local service between Jeff Pk and downtown, and local O'Hare to Jeff Pk then express to downtown, you would probably get a significant increase in ridership. If you have ever been on a Metra express from Naperville to downtown, those trains are packed and it is definitely faster than driving. The idea of the L was supposed to be "Rapid Transit".

I don't see a need for a Brown Line at Oak or Division considering the 37 runs parallel to the train.

The Green Line doesn't need an infill station at Damen or Western with Madison bus service 1/4 mile to the south. Still not a fan of the new Morgan station nor am I a fan of the soon to be built Cermak station.

About the Green Line, although I do agree about Damen, I wouldn't mind seeing a station on Western. Although, yes you do have the Madison & Jackson buses and the Congress Train that stops at Western, a Western station on the Green Line would give another option in that Corridor. And it probably fit the same reason with the possible Damen station, because Western/Lake have alot of industrial/business land. The only good out of this is west siders given another option who live out west to catch a train to Western, instead of taking the Blue Line and then walk, or catch another bus north. But lets remember, the Green Line is one of lower ridership. And portions of the line do cross at less-populated areas. But any station that would give potential ridership growth, I'm always for that.

With that said, that was probably the reason why they place the station on Morgan, since they have a heavy industrial corridor on Lake and the Fulton Market, which I seriously thought that Halsted should've been the station, since they're mighty close to it.

[Busjack]

...

With that said, that was probably the reason why they place the station on Morgan, since they have a heavy industrial corridor on Lake and the Fulton Market, which I seriously thought that Halsted should've been the station, since they're mighty close to it.

The concern was not that it formerly was industrial, but that restaurant rows and the like developed on Randolph and Fulton. Morgan is at the middle of that, while Halsted is on the edge. Then you have the combination of what community associations wanted the station and what TIF districts would pay for it.

Just as at Conservatory, apparently the purpose of the Green Line is not bus connections, which they can get at the Blue Line.

[jajuan]

The concern was not that it formerly was industrial, but that restaurant rows and the like developed on Randolph and Fulton. Morgan is at the middle of that, while Halsted is on the edge. Then you have the combination of what community associations wanted the station and what TIF districts would pay for it.

Just as at Conservatory, apparently the purpose of the Green Line is not bus connections, which they can get at the Blue Line.

That does appear to be true with station locations along the Lake Street portion of the Green Line with placing stations offset from their original positions years after the decision not to rebuild and reopen those stations. I remember emailing CTA shortly after Conservatory opened to make the suggestion that they look into devising a routing for the 82 that would give a better connection to the station than walking the two blocks in either direction to that station or Kedzie along sidewalks darkened by the tracks. I figured if they made permanent the Red Line diversions of south side east-west routes operating on main streets not served by a Red Line station well after the Green Line reconstruction was done, this should be a simple change. But of course all that got was the empty promise to look into it with nothing being changed.