Quote:
Originally Posted by nomarandlee
Completely new station outside of downtown connected by transit. I think there are cases where this is being done in Europe/Asia. Pros - Much more creative freedom and less expense to build since no need to demolish or excavate any building or streets. Could provide plenty of room for expansion and be built so there would be minimal interference of current commuter rail. Cons - Not sure if I am looking over some major hurdles that would prevent these locations or not. Not immediately accessible to downtown destinations. Would have to build or extend a transit line to connect the station to downtown which greatly increases cost. The area of the locations I have in mind are dreary to say the least.
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^ All good ideas, but I'll strike this one down for the reasons you mentioned above. Any station that is not downtown simply loses any of the advantages that rail offers. You really do have to have the HSR system terminate in downtown Chicago, not anywhere else (including O'Hare, which a few people have proposed, and which I would consider a huge mistake that, if ever proposed seriously, I would hope city leaders would strike down in an instant).
I have discussed this before, and I'll propose this again: Chicago should have 2 major transit nodes:
1.
West Loop Transportation Center (Blue line spur, Metra and Amtrak terminals, HSR terminal)
2.
East Loop Transportation Center (Connects to the Red Line, the Elevated train, connects via walkway to Millennium Station)
The above should be connected to eachother by an underground subway akin to the Times Sq/Grand Central Terminal shuttle in NYC.
Finally, the city should build that Carrol Avenue BRT to finally link Streeterville/Navy Pier/Mag Mile/Northwestern Univ to its downtown rail terminals, especially since it's eliminating the free trolley system.