Chicago Infrastructure Thread (Orient: universities, prices, estate)

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by surlycue

But who would take the redline downtown when the metra is just east and much faster, cleaner and safer?

Why have a purple line? Or green line stops in Oak Park? Metra is a great commuter rail service, but since its commuter rail, there's limits to its functionality.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

Why have a purple line? Or green line stops in Oak Park? Metra is a great commuter rail service, but since its commuter rail, there's limits to its functionality.

Well, how much additional functionality is created by adding a park-and-ride stop in the middle of bumblesnot, which is an expressly commuter application, right next to an existing commuter train line that already has a park-and-ride a mile away? If there were an actual, like, neighborhood nearby, I could understand. But this?

[surlycue]

^^No, I agree, though the purple line does have the added convenience of an express partial route. My earlier comment was probably insensitive to the folks that live down there and I understand why the city is going with this (ie- CHEAPEST option) but I think there are other areas of the city proper that are hurting for rail service and there are many "dream" routes I'd love to see that I know have a snowball's chance in hell of coming to fruition.

If I lived down there though and had to commute to downtown specifically and not some midpoint along the line, I'd take the metra over the red line in a heartbeat. I know how long it takes to get from Howard to State/Lake on the north leg of the line and I'd sooner watch paint dry then take that commute on a daily basis.


This was all directed at Jdiddy BTW.

[jdiddy]

I don't disagree with either of you, and its unfortunate they're planning on saddling all the new stations with park n rides. This city hasn't done public transit correctly since the 50's. All I'm saying is that even all the poorly planned and executed service extensions the past 40 years provide area residents options that cannot be satisfied by a metra.

This isn't a project I'd put at the top of the priority list, but I don't think its huge waste of money either.

[Drover]

IMO the only thing that spares it from being a "huge" waste of money is the relatively small scale of the project. But measured as utility per dollar spent, I have my doubts that the ratio will be particularly high.

IMO all expansion efforts should focus on interconnectivity of existing lines via a circle line. That is by far the system's greatest current weakness.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Drover

IMO the only thing that spares it from being a "huge" waste of money is the relatively small scale of the project. But measured as utility per dollar spent, I have my doubts that the ratio will be particularly high.

IMO all expansion efforts should focus on interconnectivity of existing lines via a circle line. That is by far the system's greatest current weakness.

Absolutely. I've seen a few encouraging signs here and there the past year that this is becoming closer to reality, but I'm not quite holding my breath.

[OyCrumbler]

Where do you think a reasonable circle line outside the loop should be made? Does Chicago have anything resembling an outer loop with enough density and commerce to justify the big ring-around rather than trying to expand with some sort of express service track on the existing lines?

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Where do you think a reasonable circle line outside the loop should be made? Does Chicago have anything resembling an outer loop with enough density and commerce to justify the big ring-around rather than trying to expand with some sort of express service track on the existing lines?

CTA Circle Line Getting a Boost? - Chicagoist: Chicago News, Food, Arts & Events

[Drover]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Where do you think a reasonable circle line outside the loop should be made? Does Chicago have anything resembling an outer loop with enough density and commerce to justify the big ring-around rather than trying to expand with some sort of express service track on the existing lines?

The main purpose of a circle line is not to shuttle people to destinations along the circle or to an "outer commerce ring," though I'm sure commerce would crop up along such a ring after the fact. The point is to improve connectivity between existing lines. This would greatly improve the efficiency of transit where the start or end point is somewhere other than downtown. Right now our transit system is very efficient at moving people from outer areas toward downtown and back again. However, it's pretty lousy at moving people efficiently from one portion of town to any other portion if the start and/or end point aren't oriented toward downtown. A circle line would go a long way toward improving that situation.

[surlycue]

I would rather see a circle line that goes farther north (to say irving or montrose) and south (to somewhere around 60th) but as more track would have to be laid and land cleared I see why they mocked it up this way. Though, if you want to get from the Clybourn red stop to the division blue, it would be just as easy to take the 72 to Damen and I am sure that is true for many of the transfers on the line to some extent.