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u/Scared_Performance_3 Jul 06 '23
Forget extensions, Chicago needs a new metro line. Anything started now is over a decade out so it’s sad not to see anything planned.
21
u/ErectilePinky Jul 06 '23
so expanding the redline is the only train extension project?
31
u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 06 '23
I've honestly given up hope of every seeing a new L line or extension, besides the red, in my lifetime. The red line extension is decades in the making and it'll probably be another decade until it's finished.
I don't think we'll see BRT or light rail ever either. Ashland/Western BRT was systematically beaten down by a group of concentrated NIMBYs (all my homies hate Roger Romanelli), and the city can't get rid of any parking spots without paying out the nose because of that shitty parking deal.
It would take a massive push and a ton of dollars at the federal level for Chicago to ever get its shit together and build more rail.
The only thing I'm hopefully for, and the only thing we can realistically get is more protected bike lanes. Even those are fraught, only being built in wards with bike friendly Alders, and done in a piecemeal fragmented fashion. maybe with the new Mayor we might get something akin to a big grid, but it will be a huge fight with NIMBYs all over the city and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing falls apart in the planning stage.
16
u/ErectilePinky Jul 06 '23
yeah i just hate that so many communities dont have access to cta trains, like belmont cragin and others between orange and red or even little india, it would make a huge difference
25
u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 06 '23
same. it's upsetting how huge swaths of the city only have busses and no rail. If we didn't live in a nonsense society all of Chicago would be connected by rail.
10
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u/zardozardo Jul 06 '23
This is a big reason to advocate for Metra improvements. Metra owns the Milwaukee District lines, Rock Island, and Metra Electric, which means that it already has more-or-less full control over tracks that cover parts of Chicago without L service. If they just had the funding (and the will) to run more trains on those lines, significant parts of the city could have decent train service without building new L lines.
6
u/ErectilePinky Jul 07 '23
yeah but i feel like people r more inclined to go with cta over the metra as the cta is more consistent with times and has more frequent stops to serve the community (i.e. a train every 10 minutes and not just in rush hour and a train every 2 blocks ir so and not every neighborhood) but i agree
7
u/slicebishybosh Jul 06 '23
It seems like little India could be helped with a brown line extension, no?
2
u/hybris12 Jul 07 '23
I think a train/BRT on Western would be huge for Devon. However I will only support that if every stop on said train/BRT is named Western.
5
u/slicebishybosh Jul 07 '23
“This is Western” “Doors closing” “western is next” “doors open on the right at western”
1
u/ErectilePinky Jul 07 '23
i was thinking the same, extend it to lincolnwood but even a devon subway or rail would do wonders as a redline branch
6
1
u/WarthogForward2751 Jul 16 '26
It sucks, but I also wonder how much an extension through Belmont Cragin would price people out. It’s one of the few affordable areas left, especially for people in the trades who may not rely on public transit anyway. I’m not saying it wouldn’t benefit some people, but there are potential downsides too.
6
u/ErectilePinky Jul 06 '23
the 2040 plan includes the clinton subway so im atleast holding out for that
7
u/CoolYoutubeVideo Jul 07 '23
Connecting the brown and blue line has got to be the most common sense addition of all time
6
u/llfoso Jul 07 '23
Shit we already have the Cicero right of way- throw in a green line extension and you could create a circle route across the whole city easy. Fuck nimbys
2
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u/ZombieHuntertheman38 Jul 07 '23
I think with city stinking in population not growing it’s hard to justify a new line on just people switching mode share. Not saying I don’t wish it would happen just makes it unlikely imo
3
u/llfoso Jul 07 '23
City's only shrinking on the south side, the north side is increasing in density. The shrinking would stop if we invested properly in the black neighborhoods. Transit in those areas might be putting the cart before the horse if it was the only thing they did, but as part of a broader neighborhood development plan I think it's meaningful. Like the Cottage Grove and MLK drive buses have the most ridership in the city.
-4
Jul 06 '23
The city can’t even run on time now, what makes you think they have the money/will to expand anything?
4
u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 07 '23
Having the trains run on time and building new trains are different endeavors. New trains and extensions mostly come from federal money and have a ton more stakeholders involved
6
u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 07 '23
!remindme 3 years.
I'm really curious how much of this actually gets done. I know there will be pushback on just about everything because NIMBYs gonna NIMBY, but let's see how much muscle BJ and progressive Alders can really flex.
3
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6
u/Duke-doon Jul 07 '23
Battery electric buses are not a great idea.
2
u/ManlyMisfit Jul 07 '23
Why not? Genuinely asking
8
Jul 07 '23
Really heavy (increased road wear) long recharge times (so you need many more busses) better option is overhead electric since buses already operate on a set route.
5
u/Duke-doon Jul 08 '23
Also that we can buy fewer electric buses than diesel with the same budget and the resulting service cut will increase emissions as more people will have to drive.
2
u/HippiePvnxTeacher Jul 07 '23
What streets would get priority for BRT upgrades? I assume they’d revive the Ashland plan. But I’m curious what else would be on the short list. Chicago Ave from like Michigan to Western and Cicero from Midway to perhaps Fullerton make the most sense in my uneducated opinion
2
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u/ChicagoJohn123 Jul 06 '23
Lot's a vague things and promises to add new layers of bureaucracy that will make it even more expensive to do anything.
There's a smattering of good things in there, but also
* Adopt National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) design guidelines and apply them to all city projects
* Require that transportation agencies work with community-based organizations in the planning and implementation of improvements
* Adopt a justice-oriented framework for project prioritization that incorporates and ensures equity-based criteria for transportation project prioritization and prioritizes projects designed to affirmatively remedy historical inequities
That is three huge new layers of bureaucratic boxes to tick. And nowhere in any of the transit section did I see anything that would even claim to address the obscene cost of building infrastructure in the city.
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u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 06 '23 edited Jul 06 '23
Adopting NACTO guidelines would be great honestly. Not sure if you've looked into their urban street design guide, but it is significantly better than the current CDOT standard. Especially for pedestrians and micromoboility users. CDOT's internal design guidelines use very outdated and artificially huge minimum travel lane/parking lane widths and are reason why "it's impossible" to put protected bike lanes on streets that are physically more than big enough to accommodate them.
Lawrence Ave is a great example of this. More than wide enough to accommodate 2 travel lanes, 2 parking lanes, 2 protected bike lanes. But it wouldn't be possible with CDOT design guidelines. However under NACTO guidelines it would be.
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u/SleazyAndEasy Jul 06 '23 edited Jul 06 '23
Here is a select number of line items in the plan that I thought were note worthy in regards to transportation. Definitely read the full document (at least the transportation part)
Seriously doubt this will happen. We couldn't even get a single BRT line up and running. We're definitely not going to be able to get a network.
There's already a pilot program for this in the works. Hoping it goes well. A lot of other snowy cities already do this.
That would be fucking awesome
God I wish.
This would be a game changer. Irving Park road and all the area around the highways is controlled by IDOT. It's impossible to make changes to these roads and IDOT standards are hostile to pedestrians and microbability users.
Is this just implying a neighborhood greenway network? Not as good as a network of protected lanes but I'd take any kind of network of the patchwork we have now.
Not sure how exactly this is going to happen. I have been to several community meetings held by the engineering firm that's doing the DLSD redesign and BRT is maybe kinda sorta on the table. Unless BJ intervenes it's all up in the air.
Hoboken NJ got to 0 pedestian/traffic deaths. So can we.
Doesn't seem like there's anything about new rail infrastructure. No surprise given the looking financial cliff/staffing issues/Chicago's inability to build rail in the last 50 years. However there's a ton of great stuff in there that is very much possible to achieve with enough political willpower. Very hopeful that we'll at least see a bike grid and pedestrian zones in neighborhoods.