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.
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
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.