14th Street CTA Repair

Message from the Alderman:

Your invited to an important discussion about a CTA Construction Project on 14th Place, between State Street and Wabash Avenue. The CTA will begin maintenance repairs to the elevated structure from November 3rd, 2008 through December 5, 2008. The much needed repair work will provide limited access to the alley beneath CTA's structure; "No Parking" resitrictions will be in effect during work activity; and there will be a substantial amount of noise during construction.

WHEN: Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Soka Gakkai-1455 S. Wabash

Obama = Good for Chicago 2016

It's been said a million times on Sloopin and other media outlets, but here is another article, this time by the Chicago Examiner, talking about Obama and what it means for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. A point that sometimes gets lost is the alternative choice for President and it's ramifications for the bid. McCain supposedly has a icy relationship with the IOC due to the Salt Lake Controversy:

"When the Salt Lake City bribery scandal exploded in 1999, McCain pointedly "invited" IOC then-president Juan Antonio Samaranch to be questioned in a Congressional hearing looking into the matter of IOC members taking bribes from Salt Lake officials, and the overall gift-grabbing culture of the IOC. Samaranch never showed, but the request -- and McCain's correct assertion that blame be spread beyond Salt Lake -- did not make McCain popular among IOC members, a body with a reputation for a long memory."

Here are some other Sloopin links to old relevant Olympic stories:

Is Obama Nomination Good for Chicago?

President Obama to Lead Chicago 2016 Bid Presentation

Room 21 - Info from Chicagoist

The Chicagoist just posted some information about a one year anniversary party for Room 21. Although I've never been there, I've heard good things.

Anyone have any thoughts on this place?

Museum Park West Starts to Grow

Yo Chicago has a new post about Museum Park West. As of now the building is supposed to be done and ready to live in by the end of 2009. They also talk about the other buildings planned for Roosevelt...take a look at the post.

Here is an old Sloopin post about these buildings on Roosevelt.

President Obama to Lead Chicago 2016 Bid Presentation?

It seems like he might have some other important issues to address (economy, war, health care, energy, and on and on), but according to this article by Michael Sneed in the Chicago Sun Times that’s the scoop:

“A top city Olympic source claims the plan is for Obama to present the major pitch to an International Olympic Committee delegation at the end of March or beginning of April.”

Although this would obviously help Chicago’s chances to land the Olympics, I don’t know how it would sit with the rest of the country…but who cares about them.

Transportation and Parking Studies for the SLoop

Another article talking about the transportation and parking studies in the South Loop. I’m glad this is on the cities radar as it’s probably a good sign of future plans and improvements for the neighborhood.

For some other posts in regards to transportation in the south loop see the following:

• Sloopin’s Grand Plan
• New Green Line Stop in the South Loop?
• Circle Line Concept

School adopts the "South Loop Way"

Looks like the South Loop School Model (at 1212 S. Plymouth) is being copied due to it's recent success. Good sign for families in the neighborhood...a city public school that seems to be working.

Congress Parkway Gets a Makeover

The northern border of the South Loop is finally getting a makeover. Congress Parkway, which is a major transportation artery for the city and often overlooked, will be going through some major improvements. Besides basic street maintenance, it sounds like there will also be some aesthetic improvements (trees, benches, pedestrian improvements, etc):

"Congress is heading for some radical changes, according to plans Attarian shared with curious South Loop residents at a community meeting last week. The ideas aren't yet finalized, and Illinois Department of Transportation must also approve a formal proposal. But the contours of the $19 million overhaul are in place. Construction could start in 2009, with the work completed over two years."

Sloopin's Grand Plan: CTA and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Solution

So for a week or two Sloopin has been talking about the CTA and potential new stops in the South Loop. As we’ve mentioned in other posts, the biggest wild card is the bid for the 2016 Olympics. As stated when the IOC reviewed the initial bid:

“The role of public transport in a Chicago games is not clear,” the IOC evaluation team wrote. While the use of the lakefront for numerous sports venues is appealing, it added, those venues are “not in close proximity” to train lines that can efficiently move tens of thousands of athletes, officials and spectators.

So with that said, below are some ideas that Sloopin has in regards to solving that problem. Our options focus on the Central and South Cluster as those are probably the two most critical to Chicago’s bid. The West and North Clusters have less of a role in the bid. The West Cluster is already set up well with public transportation (pink line) and the North Cluster is another story, but we’re not going to focus on that now.

The image below is a divided into three different illustrations:

1. Far Left Map - is the current CTA and Metra maps with the proposed Olympic venues marked with the “X”. The Red “X’’s are venues and the Black “X” is the Olympic Village.
2. Center Map – is the same map, with the addition of the black line. This black line marks railroad tracks that currently run the Metra, South Shore and commercial train. Our idea revolves around using these tracks for a new CTA line (so we must assume this is a possibility). Since it’s expensive and often legally tough to get new real estate for trains, it seems that these are already there and could be used to address some of the concerns of the IOC. We will get into the specifics later.
3. Far Right Map – are the different options our ideas. We’ve numbered the options to reflect our opinion in terms of ease, cost and planning (so option 1 is the most likely and option 3 would be the least likely). These options take into account current planning by the RTA (see earlier post). The connector idea will ultimately connect the black line to the green line and create a “South” Loop.

So now that you’ve seen the bigger picture, let’s dive deeper into each option:

Option 1 – The 16^th and 18^th street station

As you can see by the illustration below, the black line already stops at 27^th (where the Olympic village would be), McCormick Place (where many of the sports and the press center will be) and 18^th street (which has a bridge that goes over LSD to Soldier field and Northerly Island).

The way to connect this to the EL is by utilizing the commercial train tracks that turn west at 16^th street (which you can see in the red box). I doubt the CTA could use the same tracks, but maybe they could build something that runs above these train tracks.

The black line would connect to the existing EL lines at 16^th between Wabash and State Street. Our idea calls for a new station for the 3 existing lines and the new black line (red, green and orange line already use the tracks). The station is marked by the blue oval.

The pros for Option 1 are as follows:

• Utilizes existing train track real estate. This would enable the city to build over or use existing tracks, which probably would save a lot of money.
• City would not need to take over real estate or drastically change existing lines
• It connects to all key South and Central Cluster venues to the greater EL system
• It connects McCormick Place and the Olympic village to the Main Stadium in Jackson Park.
• Creates a new developmental corridor on 16^th – 18^th street

The cons/questions for Option 1 are:

• Could the EL use the commercial tracks on 16^th street?
• How expensive would this be?

Option 2 – Cermak Station

This option is very similar to Option 1, however it won’t access the 18^th street Metra stop. The black line would now serve the 27^th street stop (where the Olympic village would be) and McCormick place.

Option 2 calls for the black line to run either under or over ground along Cermak and connect with the Green line at Cermak between Wabash and State streets (which is the portion within the red box in the picture below). This option calls for a stop at Cermak for both the green and black lines (which is noted by the blue oval).

The pros for Option 2 are as follows:

• See Option 1 pros
• Creates a new developmental corridor leading to McCormick place (good for tourists and conventions)
• It has adequate space between the Roosevelt stop (which is on the 1200 block. Option 1 - the 16^th station obviously will only be 4 blocks away from Roosevelt)

The cons/questions for Option 2 are:

• The city would have to build on Cermak Street, which could be costly.
• People have raised concerns about the neighborhood in this area (however, by 2016 we think the neighborhood will look very different especially if this type of development happens).

Option 3 – Randolph Stop

Option 3 could be the best, however our guess is that it would cost the most and have the biggest disruption to the current system and city. Again, the bulk of the idea is to use the existing Metra and South Shore train tracks that go along the south portion of LSD, through Grant Park and finally ending at Randolph street (under Millennium Park).

The biggest question is how and where would this line connect to the existing EL system. In the illustration below, you can see the black line eventually linking to the Red Line at State and Lake. The line would then loop South and head toward Jackson Park on the existing green line tracks. This option has a lot of variables, opportunities, questions and concerns. However, if the funds exist, it would probably be the best solution because:

• It provides closer public transit access to the lake front (IOC concern)
• It does a better job of linking to all existing El lines and the Loop
• Has potential to link to the Block 37 Super Station (if that ever happens) and both airports
• It still connects to McCormick Place, the Olympic Village and the Main Stadium

However, the biggest concern in our mind would be how much would this cost? To connect this in the loop seems like it would be very expensive.

Olympic Line Connector

This is used in all three of our ideas and would link the existing green line tracks to the existing Metra and South Shore tracks. This would create a “South” Loop and give everyone access to all relevant Olympic Venues (McCormick Place, Olympic Village, Main Stadium and other Olympic Venues). Assuming the CTA can use existing tracks, the only new construction piece would be linking the 63^rd street Metra station to the 63^rd street Cottage Grove CTA station (which is within the red box on the illustration).

As you can see, the idea calls for this new Black Line (or Olympic Line which I’m sure the IOC would like) to run counter clockwise.

Overall, all of the ideas try to address the IOC’s concerns:

• Closer public transit train access to venues and the lakefront
• Ability to move thousands of athletes, spectators and officials to all of the venues

We also tried to avoid ridiculous, costly projects and ideas since the bid team is trying to not make this too costly (Option 3 probably would cost some coin).

So this is Sloopin's Grand Plan. Please let us know if you agree, how you would change things or just plainly what you think?

We have some other thoughts on the Olympics and development, but we will tackle those later.

It's Going to be Cold in April

Hopefully the IOC sees past the weather...the USOC did, but this group will be less familiar with Chicago and probably more swayed by the weather.

First Stop for the IOC: CHICAGO

Chicago will be the first stop for the International Olympic Committee's 2016 Summer Games evaluation commission on April 2nd through 8th. The 10-member commission will then go to Tokyo on April 14th through 20th, Rio on April 27th through May 3rd and Madrid on May 4th to 9th.

The IOC will choose a host on Oct 9th 2009 in Copenhagen.

History in the South Loop

We've heard the talk about it, but it is now being confirmed by Obama's staff. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign will hold what it hopes will be an Election Night celebration in Grant Park in Chicago, a campaign aide confirmed this morning.

The celebration will be in the South Loop or more specifically the south portion of Hutchison Field. This area has been home to various historic events such as hosting a papal visit in 1979 and a Chicago Bulls NBA championship celebration in 1991. It more routinely hosts Lollapalooza, sporting events and the Taste of Chicago.

See you there and hopefully it will be a true celebration (know on wood)!

Circle Line Concept

Thanks to John for bringing up one of my favorite Chicago topics, the CTA and its future developments. We know this is a double edged sword given the recent block 37 super station debacle, but it’s still fun to dream. This brings us to the “Circle Line” concept, which was presented in 2002:

Does anyone have any links to more recent talks about the “Circle Line”? This plan addresses some things I think are very important:

1. Linking the northwest to the near north neighborhoods
2. Providing a much needed public transportation option at the United Center (the bus system is pretty horrible)
   

But the main thing it misses is access to the lake. This is tough, mainly because it would cost a ton of money, but it is one of the main criticisms of the current Chicago 2016 Olympic plan (not a clear explanation of how the public transportation would be linked to the water front and sporting venues). I’m working on a post that talks about this, so stay tuned.

But in the meantime does anyone have ideas on how to improve the “circle line” concept? What about creating access to the lake?

Grant Park Tower 3 & 4

Thanks to Jeremiah D. for directing us to the latest plans for the prestigious developments along Roosevelt. For those who are not familiar with the plans, Musuem Park one (far left) is almost done and Museum Park Two (second from the left) just started construction this summer. I hope these buildings still are constructed. It would frame the South End of Grant Park beautifully and really be a sign of the South Loops architectural influence on the city.

This article also reports good news about the vitality of the South Loop in a tough economy and marketplace (even though this was prior to the financial issues that hit us in Oct.):

Even with declining Chicago condo sales in many neighborhoods, one section seems to be holding its own and maybe even gaining ground. Central Station is still attracting buyers and Chicago real estate developer Gerald Fogelson of Fogelson Companies is confident enough to move forward with the first of two new towers.