Chicago wants to reduce Ashland Ave from 4 lanes to 2 lanes

[dietermoreno]

Chicago wants to reduce Ashland Ave from 4 lanes to 2 lanes and eliminate left turns to add bus rapid transit to connect the El lines and Metra lines together without having to go downtown to transfer.

This would not be necessary if the Crosstown Transitway was built.

So Chicago wants to make traffic even worse because there are no funds to build the Crosstown Transitway but Chicago still wants to have the functionality of the Crosstown Transitway.

So does this mean that the Crosstown Transitway is never being built if the Ashland Ave bus rapid transit lane project is built?

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/02/chicagos-big-bet-bus/8499/

An electronic toll only grade separated Crosstown Freightway for trucks only with one lane in each direction, outer shoulders, no median,  8 interchanges (Kennedy & Edens junction, North Ave, Eisenhower, 26th Ave, Stevenson, Archer Ave, Western Ave, and the Dan Ryan), and a design speed of 55 mph with a free flow speed of 65 mph has also been proposed.
http://www.transportchicago.org/uploads/5/7/2/0/5720074/2-mid-city_freightway_study.pdf



bus rapid transit lanes were just completed this December in the loop by narrowing 3 one way lanes to 2 one way lanes and eliminating street parking (on Washington, Madison, and Clinton (with Canal coming next year)), where I think they better serve traffic than cars because you can park in parking garages and walk in the loop and the brt lanes were only added to minor streets in the loop, not major arterials, and left turns are still allowed.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/supp_info/central_loop_busrapidtransit.html

http://abc7chicago.com/traffic/ctas-loop-link-open-1st-weekday-commute/1130894/



Why not bore a subway below grade underneath the above grade right of way as a new El line.  The above grade El line proposal would cost a billion dollars, and the truck only and bus only proposals would cost much less.  I imagine boring a subway underneath the truck only toll road proposal would be a multibillion dollar project, but it would be well worth it, and there is possible Illinois tollway funding as a toll road when the tollway looks at its next projects to add to its next capital program, and there is no funding for the El line or bus only road.

Would the Illinois tollway allow for a subway underneath a tollway?  Never if cars were allowed on the tollway, but if its truck only maybe.  Notice that all Chicago expressways that have an El in the median are not tolled.  The Illinois tollway would never build an El line that would reduce customer volume on its tollway.  Such a subway underneath the Midcity Freightway would have no effect on Illinois tollway passenger vehicle traffic, because there are no Illinois tollways in the city limits.  Of course the Illinois tollway doesn't pay for subways, so the majority of the multibillion dollar project would have to have funding from another source.

[jeffandnicole]

Well, first of all, you pretty much answered your own question:  Relining a street and posting signs:  Several thousand dollars to a million dollars or two, depending on the extent of the work, especially if they modify traffic lights, street curbing etc. 

Doing what amounts to pipe dreams:  Billions of dollars...if it could even be done.  Building subways takes years, and is probably more disruptive because the entire road has to be torn up.   Many of the proposals were created decades ago, so years of other projects probably reduces or eliminates some of the right of way those previous proposals would have used.

and a design speed of 55 mph with a free flow speed of 65 mph has also been proposed

Um....I'm pretty sure that's not exactly what was proposed.

[dzlsabe]

For Ashland BRT, it gets down to eliminate daytime street parking from Fullerton to Cermak. Getting rid of some flower pots, say around the Division/Milwaukee mess would help too.

If by "Crosstown Transitway", you mean the existing rail ROW along Kenton from Midway to Montrose for a new CTA line, that would be great, relatively easy/cheap. Drilling tunnels for a road wouldnt happen even if we had the money. Thats like a billion a mile.

Hypotenuse would be a better/cheaper, more effective solution to the many road traffic problems.

[The Ghostbuster]

I don't think it's ever a good idea to reduce the number of lanes on a roadway, unless that roadway is underutilized, which I doubt is the case here.

[Jardine]

Put the bus lanes in the deep tunnels.

[mrsman]

There are many good BRT projects that benefit transit across the country.  This one is not one of them.

The biggest problem is that they will take away a whole lane from each direction.  Ashland is quite a busy street and it does not head into the Loop.  The current transit mode share does not justify giving half of the thru lanes to transit.

Another problem is that left turns are prohibited at most intersections.  This will cause more traffic on residential streets as people have to make three rights to make a left.  I am not aware of any other project that has so many left turn prohibitions.

A better model is Cleveland's health line.  There, even though one lane is taken away, and even though it is the left lane, there are still provisions for left turning cars at most intersections.

To improve transit on Ashland, I recommend more frequent buses with less frequent stops.  Ideally, there should be a bus stop every 1/4 mile, not more.  In addition, there should be rush hour express buses connecting key transit stations (L and Metra) to the Medical District.  I don't beleive bus lanes are warranted.

If the politicians insist on bus lanes, the better approach would be to reserve the left lane for buses (as is the current plan), but to also provide left turn cutouts at every major intersection.  Also to improve traffic, parking should be prohibited during rush hours so that there are two lanes in each direction during rush hours.

[dzlsabe]

So ADD lanes. NO/minimal daytime (eliminate completely even?) street parking from Fullerton to Cermak. Remove some treepots as needed. There are/could be numerous places to add off-street parking.

This should be considered for BRT on Lawrence between Kimball and JeffPark as well.

[noelbotevera]

Turn it into a freeway. 

In all seriousness, Ashland does seem to be a handy connector (you can go from US 14 to I-90, to I-290, to I-55, to US 20, to US 41), and can shortcut the I-90/I-94 multiplex...although it's longer, well worth the horrid Chicago traffic. Besides, wouldn't US 41 been a feasible alternative into Indiana than I-94?

[dzlsabe]

Hypotenuse would be easier, less disruptive and costly, more effective. And relieve/resolve the "horrid" traffic on at least FIVE of the worst interstate headaches in the country. NO more 90/94.

[The Ghostbuster]

I looked into my crystal ball, and I have found only one place a Hypotenuse would be constructed - in Fictional Highways.