Quote:
Originally Posted by Baronvonellis
Yea, and I don't see how a giant metra station with an indoor mall is going to work here. Sure, if this was central Paris and commuter trains ran every 7 minutes like Paris and are used like a heavy transit line then maybe. Do they not know about Block 37? That was in the heart of the loop, and was empty when it opened. Why do they think a giant indoor mall will work here, it seems really unnecessary. At most they could build a nice new metra stop. What is the current ridership at the 18th street station?
I sure don't want the state to have to chip in $5 billion when we already have several better megaplans in place, in better locations that don't need state funding. Yea, if we were some fast growing sunbelt state with a budget surplus why not, but not when we are billions in debt for the pension black hole.
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It's pretty low, lots of trains skip that stop because it's only a local stop (between the two inner local tracks) and the platform is only two cars long so most doors don't open. It also has no elevator up to the 18th St pedestrian bridge and it's a rickety Wild West wooden contraption. But yeah, this means nothing if Metra isn't willing to step up service on the ME line; a direct connection to the L could be useful to distribute Metra riders to the West Loop jobs, or connect Hyde Parkers to the North Side, but they're talking about branching off the Orange Line so... Metra riders could get a direct connection to Midway I guess? It would be much better if they extended the Purple or Brown Line to this site, but that requires a new track connection right where a six-story, 50-unit condo building happens to sit.
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