BRIDGEVIEW -- U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Western Springs), Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and others attend groundbreaking for a $27 million underpass near Toyota Park. 11 a.m., 71st Street and IHB/CSX Tracks, just west of Toyota Park. Wow, $27 million. I wonder what it would cost to send the Orange Line out there?
Just to extend it from Midway to Ford City (about 2 1/2 miles south on Cicero) is expected to cost $445 million. http://www.transitchicago.com/asset...sion_Locally_Preferred_Alternative_Report.pdf See page 80 for the breakdown of the costs. To extend it to Toyota Park would at least double the cost.
It looks like this is for an underpass for the train tracks just west of the stadium on 71st St. This would be a major inconvenience during construction, but would be great once it is done. Anyone who has been trying to get to the stadium and has been caught at a freight train there knows what a pain that can be, being 200 yards from the stadium and waiting 15 minutes for the train to go by.
I suggested they look into the Metra. We know from Naperville that the Metra will send a special train for events. I imagine something like Ravinia's stop that dumps people off right in the parking lot. http://t.co/f5JmhqM That map shows a little dot for a current (hardly used) Metra stop and another dot right at that crossing at 71st. There's about a one and a half mile stretch of (I believe) CSX rail between the two locations. If the village can get permission to use that 1.5 mile stretch, a convenient Ravinia-like stop could be added right next to the parking lot. A Union Station to Toyota Park Direct would be nice.
A billion here, a billion there... I suspected so, and given that there's nothing else over there, it's hard to imagine there being sufficient traffic to support such an extension. The CTA has other priorities. The 71st Street underpass will be great for folks driving to and from the stadium, once it's finished.
I suspect that those tracks are heavily used by freight traffic, and as a result any passenger service there would be unreliable. I still think that from a public transportation standpoint, what's needed most is a limited-stop Pace bus on Harlem Avenue from Lake Street (Green Line and U.P. West line), stopping at Madison Street, I-290 (Blue Line), Roosevelt Road, Cermak Road, the Harlem Avenue Metra Station (BNSF), Ogden Avenue, 55th Street and 63rd Street. Maybe three runs before the game and three runs after. Opportunities for people who live on or near Harlem to get on the bus without going downtown, or to connect from other rail and bus lines.
Wow that's good that this is getting done. My thought for better access to Toyota Park is that they set up an offsite park-and-bus situation, maybe somewhere off the exit for 79th, like the Cubs do where you can park at DeVry and they just bus you in. Takes strain off the bottleneck for entry/paying a little bit. Maybe locate it near the Metra stop, so that the busses can pick up metra riders too.
There are four lanes of rail and I've only ever seen two in use. A parallel "spur" could be built if necessary, just to get the train off to the side. That would be a couple million dollars as opposed to $500 million for an Orange Line extension. Maybe someone could siphon off part of the $27 million for the underpass. The Pace 307 runs frequently from Grand to 63rd and Harlem. It's underutilized for sure.
Seems excessive. I come in from that side too off of Roberts Road and 71st. You would think they could pay off the freight line that uses that track to simply hold trains 30 minutes before and after events at TP. The rest of the time, who cares if a train is going through that spot? A couple million for a ten year commitment to simply schedule a little better? I'm thinking that train company would go for that (assuming it is one company which I would think would be the case.
That would be a pretty good idea. Inexpensive, as opposed to the alternatives, and convenient for those in the City and near suburbs.
You are probably right. There aren't a lot of neighborhoods right there. I think you have to go at least half way to Roberts Road to hit a residential block, but they probably do try to sneak over to Harlem a lot more than we ever would.
$400 million dollars. Seriously. That's how much it would cost to extend the orange line to Ford City. To Bridgeview it would be a similar cost.
Couldn't they just build a 10-20 story tower at the midway orange line station and have people zip line to Toyota park from there.
Two flaws with your rescheduling suggestion. First, it's not just 30 minutes before and after that would make the difference, especially before. People are arriving for 3 hours before the game, granted in different numbers at different times. And secondly, that "30 minute" delay affects railroad scheduling throughout the country. It's not just one train in one place, it affects all trains in all places. A 30 minute delay could conceivably cause huges delays elsewhere causing much worse inconvienences than someone having to wait a few extra minutes to get to a sporting event. Before anyone gets started, I know how important a Fire game is. But when put in the perspective of someone needing to get to work on time or in the back of an ambulance is it really worth it?
Considering the backlog of freight trains in the Chicago area is ridiculous as is, stalling them even further would cause even worse bottlenecks everywhere else. I can't remember the figure, but it was something like 80% of the railraod grade crossings in the USA are in Illinois and 50% of those are in the Chicago area...that means, 40% of rail surface crossings in the USA surround Chicago. I wish I knew where I read that once upon a time. The people who live there. The truckers who need to access the warehouses west of that intersection. They're not spending 27 million just to appease the fans who come in from Roberts Road...this is a major need for the area.
I live within pissing distance of a crossing for the BNSF. I'm fully aware of the minor inconvenience of trains. It is absolutely rare to have a delay of more than 5 minutes -- usually, its less than that. Now, 5 minutes immediately before a game or when hundreds of cars are all looking to exit a parking lot at the same time can cause a real headache. But for the residents and trucks it is just that -- a minor inconvenience. The ambulance is a good point but there is an overpass at 79th -- just one mile south. It sucks, but you see ambulances stopped all the time near me as there is a hospital immediately on the other side of the tracks. I'm just saying that $27 million seems excessive for that crossing and if you take TP out of the equation, does this even come up?
Could it be an obstacle in attracting new business to the area? Maybe it's something that was asked for in order for a business to open up or relocate. Maybe they intend to push more traffic through there while another road is upgraded. Who gives a f...!? As long it makes my game day experience a bit more pleasant why bitch about it
The underpass is said to allow trains to travel through at a higher speed. Over the long run that means MONEY.
For the hobos who "ride the rails"? Of course it would be great if there was Metra service someone near Toyota Park.