CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[TowerDude]

Should protect the ability to get to Northfield/Glenview eventually.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I interpreted the mayor's line as really being "NNHS' parking must not be impacted". A big reason for the previous extension being cancelled was cause the station would have terminated at NNHS parking lot and people complained they'd have no where to park, even though the line would have been single-track elevated

I think if the line now terminates at Old Orchard instead of the NNHS parking lot, there'll be less pushback.

Somehow I don't think NNHS folks will be satisfied if the station is 300' further east on mall property. They've also managed just fine with reduced parking due to the current IDOT project... the CTA impacts would be similar.

Even Westfield, which claims to support the idea of rail service, might balk if it's their land in question for a station and bus terminal.

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Should protect the ability to get to Northfield/Glenview eventually.

I don't think extending CTA infinitely out into the suburbs is a good idea when Metra exists. Old Orchard Mall is a logical endpoint, because many North Side residents already go there to shop.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Somehow I don't think NNHS folks will be satisfied if the station is 300' further east on mall property. They've also managed just fine with reduced parking due to the current IDOT project... the CTA impacts would be similar.

Even Westfield, which claims to support the idea of rail service, might balk if it's their land in question for a station and bus terminal.

I think you do an elevated station over Old Orchard Road to avoid both properties.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by k1052

I think you do an elevated station over Old Orchard Road to avoid both properties.

woof

[Busy Bee]

Interim terminal station on north side of Golf, ideally submerged with grade crossing elimination. Monitor rider volume and if after a decade or so the benevolent owners of OOSC want to chip in, a 2/3 mile extension paralleling 94 (with a short cut and cover tunnel under NN athletic fields) and veering east to a terminal station at the SW corner of Old Orchard and Skokie Blvd.

Golf Road station would ideally spark interest in an integrated Old Orchard Woods scaled TOD redevelopment of current Nissan dealership, and a terminal at OOSC would eventually lead to a dense, mixed-use revamp for the suburban, car-oriented mall.

[Randomguy34]

It's happening


https://bsky.app/profile/starlinechicago.bsky.social/post/3mmeqog5cm22u

[left of center]

Great news! With higher gas prices, I see a lot more people taking advantage of the increased service.



What ever happened to the initiative to rename all the Metra Lines? Is that still ongoing study?

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

It's happening
MG]https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:s2kavdioqwtxtmwf3clymx6y/bafkreihxbrwheshdy7b4k7hh2r7p7xv6kfsy7hjxy4xakcf6axud3bcheu[/IMG]
[rl]https://bsky.app/profile/starlinechicago.bsky.social/post/3mmeqog5cm22u[/url]

Very cool. I'm gonna make an unnecessary trip to Joliet just to check out the new fleet.

[Busy Bee]

Good news indeed.

[Randomguy34]

This was mentioned in last month's Citizens Advisory Board, the first set of battery trains will arrive in October and will be displayed at the APTA convention in McCormick Place. Still no date about when they will formally enter service

[Randomguy34]

Oh. My. God. MED will have increased frequency June 15th, with Hyde Park stations now having 20 minute minimum frequencies all day till 8pm. They also mentioned during yesterday's Sandhouse Rail Meeting that they'll finish this year installing bi-directional signaling and increasing speeds to 79 MPH. Metra and NICTD say they will then build a completely new schedule for MED and SSL from scratch!

Schedule: https://schedules.metrarail.com/pdf/alte...20effective%20June%2015_202605211049.pdf

[Klippenstein]

Interesting. No more once daily express service to South Chicago/93rd. Also, slight shift for some of the trains I usually take. Good to know.

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by left of center

Great news! With higher gas prices, I see a lot more people taking advantage of the increased service.



What ever happened to the initiative to rename all the Metra Lines? Is that still ongoing study?

It's happening still, don't worry.

[Randomguy34]

Riley O’Neil, a spearhead of the Complete Streets initiative, was killed while cycling in Bridgeport Friday. Driver with a suspended license doored him in the bike lane, which led him getting run over by a semi-truck. Never met Riley but heard plenty of wondering words about him. Really fucked up situation. So many things could have prevented this, CDOT having continued extending the Halsted concrete upgrades to 31st, preventing suspended drivers from using a fucking car, the city stopping semi-trucks from using every single fucking street in the city. There's too many micro and macro level decisions that could of prevented his death that it hurts

https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/07/...cture-killed-while-biking-in-bridgeport/

[Busy Bee]

Horrible.

[airforceguy]

Yellow Line extension in Skokie could take ‘decades’ but CTA is studying it

The CTA is now “dusting that (study) off” to better understand opportunities and challenges for extending the rail line; though actually implementing an extension would take years, maybe even decades, said Molly Poppe, the agency’s chief planning and innovation officer.

Poppe provided the Skokie Village Board on Monday an update on the Yellow Line’s ridership, crime levels and extension prospect after Mayor Ann Tennes said she requested the CTA address “several safety issues” the route reportedly has experienced over the past decade.

The Yellow Line — which has two stations in Skokie: Dempster and Oakton streets — ferried 442,109 riders last year, according to Poppe.

That’s 46% fewer passengers than the 832,225 the Yellow Line ferried in 2019, she said. She noted that one of the CTA’s “biggest challenges” is the Skokie area has a “high rate” of people working from home and mobility patterns have changed in the wake of the pandemic.

https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/2026...uld-take-decades-but-cta-is-studying-it/

[ardecila]

LOL. It's quite sad that the City of Chicago is so lacking in imagination that they have no plans or ideas for new L lines/extensions after RLE, while *Skokie* is the one who's actually willing to dream big.

I'm sure CTA has their own ideas internally but it really takes city/municipal, state and Federal leaders to actually move these projects forward and the last several mayors have had a lukewarm commitment to rail at best. Sucks when compared to peer cities like NYC, LA, Toronto, Montreal that are all building rail lines as fast as they can afford to do so.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

LOL. It's quite sad that the City of Chicago is so lacking in imagination that they have no plans or ideas for new L lines/extensions after RLE, while *Skokie* is the one who's actually willing to dream big.

I'm sure CTA has their own ideas internally but it really takes city/municipal, state and Federal leaders to actually move these projects forward and the last several mayors have had a lukewarm commitment to rail at best. Sucks when compared to peer cities like NYC, LA, Toronto, Montreal that are all building rail lines as fast as they can afford to do so.

Hell there are a handful of infill stations we could use on the existing lines that can't even really get political attention. It would be good if we could pare things down a bit so they don't cost $80M a pop too.

[Chi-Sky21]

Really poor planning indeed. They should have multiple projects mapped out for decades. We just happy with infill stations and really expensive redos of stations? I think MAYBE plan to connect the brown line to the blue. Seems like a no brainer to me. Have some sort of plan for a bus or light rail line to all the development on the north branch of the river taking place.

[Jstange059]

Re-extend the green line to Jackson park. Especially with the recent opening of the Obama Presidential Center, which is drawing in crowds, and has its tickets sold out nearly half a year in advance, the University of Chicago, and all the developments that are occurring all over woodlawn, re-extending the green line is a no-brainer