Was their a proposal ever for a South Side subway? (casinos, buses)

[Lock-Os]

With all the talk about the north shore T, was their any thought about extending the line past Sation Square and down near the hot metal bridge and Carson st?

With all the talk about parking and the like, it seems to be the ideal place to extend the line to connect the sporting venues and casinos to the nightlife, as well to the few parking garages in the area.

[BrianTH]

There have been surface proposals (T extensions along the lines of a streetcar and such), but I am not sure about a subway.

[UKyank]

Only if you count early 20th century proposals

[ditchdigger]

I remember it being discussed here on the forum.

[eschaton]

I suppose the issue would be where to run it. You can't put it on the railroad right of way, because that track is used during the day. A subway under the entire length of South Side would be incredibly expensive as well. I think the best bet would be a trolly-like system which ran on Carson, either with traffic or in a dedicated lane.

A question would be, where to end the line? I would say have an extension to the Waterfront, but no further.

[Lock-Os]

Originally Posted by eschaton

A question would be, where to end the line? I would say have an extension to the Waterfront, but no further.

Now that's an idea. a bit pricy, but an idea. I could see it getting a lot of use myself shuffling the crowd around at night, so maybe a few day trips and a lot more night / weekend runs.

Though as said here, even just a subway on Carson would be expensive, but I don't know if knocking out a lane of road for a trolley is a good idea either. I guess a mini bus loop would work as well, if only they could spare the buses.

[Impala26]

Alternatively, they could make one of the streets parallel to Carson a street car loop. Either Bingham/Sidney north (closer to the river) and/or Sarah south (closer to the slopes).

I'd even venture they could use the elevated portion that extends from the Panhandle Bridge to Arlington Avenue (the former Brown Line/current transit tunnel detour route) as a starting point for an ELEVATED T line above the Sarah Street right-of-way. I could only see an elevated T line working for the South Side, otherwise it would have to be a street-level streetcar loop. Underground would be too prohibitively expensive.

[ferraris]

At night, when Carson Street is most in demand, there should be numerous spare buses sitting in garages. It's just a matter of paying for the gas, drivers, and extra wear and tear.

[AaronPGH]

I'd love to see south side drunks fall off the platform into some subway tracks.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I'd love to see south side drunks fall off the platform into some subway tracks.

Wouldn't you rather see them plummet into the river from an aerial gondola?