Agreed of course that this is poor policy from these well-intentioned but misguided aldermen. All things considered, seems as if Lightfoot should get credit for making this less bad/lessen the aggregate harm to housing unit production.

All eyes on what type of compromise Lightfoot can bring about on the redesigned ARO this summer. Hopefully something that encourages more overall unit production and also specifically of lower-price point rentals and for-sale housing. Won't be a small feat given all of the extant realities, not least of which are political.

From what I understand, when they started working on the Flyover they discovered that a lot of maintenance was required for the LSD bridge.

I know everybody seems to be in love with the elevated LSD and bridge for some reason based around the view afforded but a tunneled LSD from Randolph to Ohio would be so much better for the pedestrian and just better urban design. I mean how is that debatable?

Anyone have a spare billion or three? That's the real question here. ;)

Aaron (Glowrock)

Lets bury the tracks in grant park first. C'mon KG.

The tracks have never really bothered me that much. Theyre already below grade, they offer a nice view for train fans and kids or just as an entertaining curiosity for "normal people" and they are in no way dwtrimental to the pedestrian experience. The open cut further south by Roosevelt, yeah sure, but I don't really think the trench further up should be capped. Its a nice historic thing that ties our current time to the old Insull era IC days. In the future perhaps some high speed electrified services could terminate at Randolph St Station and more of the original track space would be utilized.

WHAT? They force you to walk to the nearest bridge, which often requires backtracking to the foot of the bridge, especially for wheelchair users, as opposed to just being able to cut across the park at any convenient point. South of Balbo Drive you have to walk THREE BLOCKS to reach the next crossing point.

But yet not having a dark thundering elevated highway right above you makes it pretty enjoyable nonetheless.

And Ohio isn't far enough. To get the real benefit they could remover ALL the stoplights through Chicago - job done.

And Ohio isn't far enough. To get the real benefit they could remover ALL the stoplights through Chicago - job done. However, I think that that 3-4 Billion could easily go on the infrastructure needed to keep Lake Michigan out of an underground LSD.

AGREED! Its 2020 and we still have that eyesore trainyard in the middle of our beautiful Grant Park. It might be the thing that annoys me the most in the city. So much more green space to be had.

While we are on the subject. Lets remove that art installation of all the rusty legs! LOL The word "art" being used loosely. :D

Also, I know it will never happen but imagine if Columbus Dr. was removed also and we had a more natural park that you could get lost in like Central Park. More trees and maybe a large pond. That would be AMAZING!

Im all for tearing up Columbus, I've been saying that for years. I think that would have a much bigger impact on the way the park functions than capping the IC/CSSSBRR trench.

I hate how much that road just tears Grant Park in half and sections the park off

YES! :yeahthat

Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it worthless. Abakanowicz was one of the most renowned sculptors of her time, and the installation was funded through private donations so there's really no reason to complain about it.

^ Yes there is. It's ugly; butt ugly and morbid at that. I would rather see a park full of the Riverwalk's "Handout Hammocks" instead of these headless hippies (I know they're not hippies but alliteration is more important here.)

I like Abakanowicz's work and I like Agora. Further, the installation is site specific. Walking around and among the figures is a great experience.

yeah, i really like Agora too.

i like that it's kinda morbid/creepy..... mysterious.

it's a really good foil to the bean at the other end of the park.

whenever art inspires strong positive and negative reactions, that's usually a good indication that it's doing something right.

Just not a fan of rusting legs...reminds me of the creativity of that recent banana duct taped to a wall that sold for 120k. They just rusty legs for gods sake. lol But I would def prefer to have train tracks covered and S. Columbus removed and filled in with park. Then you can keep your legs lol

NEMA(tode) by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr