Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias
First, I think we can all agree that finally integrating all RTA payment methods onto the Ventra card should happen. Doing that would go a long way toward making the Mets Electric more attractive to tourists and city dwellers alike.
Second, extending the Green Line to just past Dorchester but then hooking North to 55th with stops at Dorchester, Woodlawn, 59th, and 55th seems like a good balance of expense and effectiveness. No major bridges, no tunnelling required, and no serious noise complaints if its next to the IC tracks anyway. Two miles of virgin track and four stations seems like it should be doable for half a billion dollars.
A dream scenario would then extend the western branch first to almost Western and then align with existing trail ROW to the Orange Line, with stops at "almost Western," 59th, and 51st, and running shuttles between Hyde Park and Midway at some point in the distant future. That pulls in Gage Park and improves the attractiveness of Hyde Park for weekly air commuters. Cost for that is probably closer to $750 million but might be worth it, especially politically. For another $250 million, the Green Line southwest branch could be rebuilt on the east side of the Dan Ryan with a transfer station to the Red Line at 63rd.
|
I wondered about the possibility of having a "T" splitting the Green Line branches, which would also make the 63rd Street portion a continuous line between Cottage Grove (or Dorchester) to Ashland (or Western). The biggest problem I see is the Englewood Flyover, which would require flying over the Flyover or tunneling under the Ryan.
Also, because of the Flyover, it would be quite difficult to locate a Metra station there, if, in the far future, a need to locate one in the area ever arose.
One other thing - if Amtrak were to finally re-locate some of their routes onto the Rock Island, having the option of a south side station at some point down the road might make some sense, and the Flyover poses the same problem. Plus, if the idea being floated by Amtrak to run some of the southern routes onto the Rock were implemented, the tracks in question merge onto the Rock at 60th Street. 63rd is too far south.
Because of that, I had an idea kicking around my head about the possibility of using 59th Street as a transport center. Please forgive the terrible graphic. I cobbled it together in 10 minutes after reading your post-
59th is the only place on the south side where the Red and Green Lines actually cross, plus the close proximity of the Metra-Rock Island tracks puts multiple lines and multiple modes of transportation in a relatively compact area. A few future possibilities-
-CTA Red Line
-CTA Green Line
-Metra-Rock Island
-Metra-Southwest Service
-Amtrak-Lincoln Service/Texas Eagle/Illini/Saluki/City of New Orleans/others?
-CTA and intercity buses.
Just a thought.
I've also thought extending the Englewood Branch to Western would be a great idea, especially if the CTA were ever to run a rapid transit service along Western, most likely BRT.
But, when playing CTA Fantasy League, and money is no object, I envision a subway line under Western, from Blue Island-Vermont Metra station in the south to Howard Street CTA station in the north. Dreaming is cheap. Subways are not.