CTA Circle Line plan makes rounds

Written by jrood

Plans for the long-awaited Circle Line, which would link CTA and Metra rail lines in Chicago's growing central area, are a step closer to being realized after the Chicago Transit Authority completed its analysis of options for the project, the Chicago Tribune reports.

CTA officials chose what
they said was the most cost-effective "locally preferred alternative"
during a series of public meetings. The proposal — which would be the first
phase of the Circle Line project and cost an estimated $1 billion — would
require building new tracks linking the Pink and Orange Lines as well as four
new CTA stations and two Metra transfer stations.

The new line would bolster
service to the burgeoning Illinois Medical District, Chinatown, Midway Airport
and around the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. The proposal is
expected to go before the CTA board in late 2009 or early 2010, said spokeswoman
Katelyn Thrall.

The idea of a Circle Line
began floating in 2002. Some transportation experts view it as an opportunity
to reduce commuting times by improving connections between existing CTA and
Metra routes and better serving transit riders in the city and the six-county
region. Although the entire project — which would cost at least several
billion to construct — is still in the conceptual phase, many of the proposed
new Circle Line stations would create transfer opportunities between CTA and Metra
lines where none exist today.

The alternatives analysis
phase is the first of five steps required before the agency can apply for
funding through the federal New Starts Program, said Thrall. Public input is
required in the alternatives analysis study, but last week’s meetings did
little to allay some residents’ fears that families living in areas where the
plan calls for new construction of tracks and stations could lose their homes.

Mike Pitula, a community
organizer with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, wants
expanded transit services for lower-income communities but worries that the
Circle Line plan will hurt residents in its path.

Jeffrey Busby, strategic
planning manager with the CTA, acknowledged that homes would be affected.

"There would be some
impact to residents. We don’t have a number yet," Busby said, adding that
further studies needed to be conducted.

Busby said one main goal of
the proposal is to improve transit options for people traveling to jobs outside
the Loop. He said it would also reduce train congestion within the Loop by
diverting those passengers who are only passing through to transfer.

In the proposal, the Circle
Line uses existing Red Line tracks, then follows the Orange Line until just
past its Ashland stop. Newly constructed tracks then branch up through Pilsen
and merge into the Pink Line Cermak Branch near 18th Street before reversing
direction at its Ashland stop.

The proposal includes a new
CTA transfer station in Chinatown, new stops at Blue Island Avenue and
Roosevelt Road, and a transfer station at Congress Parkway. It also designates
two potential Metra stations where commuters could switch to the CTA system. One
station would serve commuters from the southwest suburbs, and the other would
be built just south of the Medical District and serve the BNSF, Metra’s busiest
line.

The plan was designed in
part to help increase access to the Medical District, which has 20,000
employees and receives 75,000 visitors daily, according to the Illinois Medical
District Commission. The CTA projects 100,000 daily visitors by 2030. Project
manager Jim Czarnecky estimated that a half-hour trip from the suburbs to the
Medical District could be cut down to five or 10 minutes.

Pitula opposes Circle Line
plans that involve the Ashland corridor. Instead, he advocates for the
improvement of bus services along Cicero Avenue. "It’s cost-effective and
flexible and allows you to provide public transportation for all," he
said.

CTA officials said the
Circle Line was preferable because it would ultimately serve more passengers.
Busby added that the CTA also is studying ways to speed up its bus service.

Ald. Danny Solis, whose
25th Ward is the area targeted for new construction, said he supports the
proposal.

"I think that the
benefits outweigh the negative," he said. "And I’m sure that the
people who are displaced, most being renters, that we can find places for them
to move into, and I would think even better than the places where they are
living now."

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