Residents help plan for proposed CTA Red Line extension

By Karin Sommer
September 20, 2010
2 comments

Nearly 150 residents participated in a community visioning session on Sept. 14 to plan for the proposed CTA Red Line extension on Chicago’s far South side. Attendees at the meeting, hosted by Developing Communities Project in partnership with MPC, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and Center for Neighborhood Technology, included Ald. Carrie Austin (34^th Ward), Ald. Anthony Beale (9^th Ward), and representatives from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Chicago Dept. of Transportation, and Chicago Dept. of Zoning and Land Use Planning.

During the meeting, residents worked with architects and table facilitators to “build” the type of development they would like to see around the four proposed stations along the extension. Recommendations include a mix of two to four story buildings, locally owned and operated businesses, and stations adorned with artwork from neighborhood artists. The input from this meeting will be used by the CTA and city agencies as they plan for the proposed station areas.

Though the project is largely dependent on funding, support for the extension is widespread. Many cite the importance of the project in bringing transit options to the area – which some call a ‘transit desert’ for the lack of public transportation – and in better connecting residents to jobs and retail in the Loop. In addition to this support from community members and city agencies, the project will be listed as one the highest priorities for transportation improvements in the region when CMAP’s GO TO 2040 comprehensive regional plan is approved in October.

Keywords

community building, corridor development initiative, Placemaking

Comments

1. Karin on September 27, 2010

Great article in the Tribune today about the proposed extension:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/traffic/ct-met-getting-around-0927-20100926,0,5288541.column
2. Daniel Cianci from Blue Island on April 29, 2011

Daniel Cianci Your Metra and Chicago Transit Authority Mass Transit new routes and more commuter/rapid train transit expansion and 115th Street Kensington transfer station going to a double platform setup making it become a major super transfer Metra and C.T.A. station for incresed train and track feeder route studies:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Would more people ride from Blue Island and South Chicago and Hegewisch to the southeast South Shore branch feeder lines off the Metras mainline with the fare going from $4.00 one way to downtown Chicago to a C.T.A. like $2.50 like fare? I was told by a Metra conductor more riders would ride the train but the fares will never go down and Metra and C.T.A. are two different entities.This really would get more riders and even more revenue coming in thoe I would think.I really was looking forward to a Metra southeast corridor route going to Dolton and like Lansing and Chicago Heights and like over to Glenwwod like areas and then on south to Beecher,Illinois.This would really get more traffic off the roads from this region and Indiana commuters have to drive to Hegewisch and Hammond as thier is nothing unless you come west over to like Homewood Metra station for the electric mainline.Your C.T.A. running the Blue Island and South Chicago branches and the Hegewisch on the South Shore line really would help and then Metra could run all of its far south mainline Metra trains express after the 115th Street Kensington station which would become a double platform station making this I call a super transfer station with all this extra activitie of more trains.The South Shore is already putting back in another feeder track at the Metra mainline junction where the South Shore merges with the Metra Electric mainline to allow a train to merge going both ways at the same time coming into and out of the 115th street Kensington transfer station as I always refer to it as it operates now and in the past.Look at 1973 photos of Kensington station back then and thier was double tracks back then for the South Shore merging onto and across the Metra mainline tracks.They took that one track and over head wires down and now already the overhead wires beams are in place but the extra track has to be laid back in and thier is the room for it going past that switch tower my relative worked at for years and years that she always diplayed the American flag at,but now the tower is empty as the railroad automated more already back in 2005 and up to 2009 and since the tower is closed the flag has come down as she was tranfered to the 63rd street tower and now that tower closed and she has to run the switching dispatch operations from downtown Chicago.Dan of Blue Island all my life since 1962 to 2011.This would happen in the next 3 to 5 years as the U.S. economy is growing again despite the greenback American dollar will likely devalue another 50% making more American dollars needed to printed off the printing press as inflation would really devalue and eat up the whole dollar by then and a new world currency would surface in this coming of the crashing dollar if things dont change now!!!!!!!!!!!!!We have set the stage for a dollar crash in the near future if not now some economist still say.Dan from Chicagos southside.All Metra Electric District train stations would have to have those ticket turn styles re-installed back in all the stations and downtown Chicago again as they just took these ticket reader turnstyles out in 2006.Anyone could just jump over those late 1960s era turn styles anyway and it happened all the time when people were almost missing thier trains in such a rush to the platforms all these years.These 1070s era ticket zone machines are still in every train station to buy the train tickets or 10 ride reduced fares or a monthly pass.Whats nice is downtown Chicago has new machines next to a lot of these 970s style ticket machines that take your bank debit cards and you pick your zone and swipe and get your ticket instantly and walk downstairs to the platform for that 10:20 p.m. University Park/South Chicago/Blue Island train now boarding on track #6.