Block 37 (108 N. State St.)

Oh sorry, the 2600s look alot like the 2400s, especially now, so yeah, I must have gotten a 2600, since I didn't get the car number.

Hi all.

In today's Trib there's a story reviewing the "rehearsal" of street lane closures surrounding Block 37 to determine problem areas prior to actual start of construction. The story mentions that construction will start in November and last thru 2Q 2007. Part of the project will be a new subway station for express trains to both O'Hare and Midway Airports; not provisions for a future subway station, but an actual station. Block 37 lies between the State St. and Dearborn St. subways (Red and Blue lines, respectively.) The Blue line already goes to O'Hare but the Orange line to Midway stops on the L a block north (State/Lake Station) or a block east (Randolph/Wabash station).

Have routings for the new "express" services already been determined? Anyone know what they are? Any idea when this new service will start?

Nope! and according to newscasters, no tunneling budgets have been developed either. It's going to be the shortest subway in Chicago. I used to like Richie Daley and Chicago, but I'm seriously thinking of moving out - so much money and time is wasted around this city when other uses for the money are so very apparent.

orangeline wrote:The Blue line already goes to O'Hare but the Orange line to Midway stops on the L a block north (State/Lake Station) or a block east (Randolph/Wabash station).

Have routings for the new "express" services already been determined? Anyone know what they are? Any idea when this new service will start?

Just a guess, but couldn't they run Midway express trains into the State Street subway using the original south portal to access the new station?

That sounds feasible, but I think they'd need to improve the ROW to a three-track alignment in some locations in order for express service to work. I know I've been preaching this a lot lately, and I hate to sound like a broken record, but it applies here as well: Two tracks isn't going to be enough...

-Dorian

F40CFan said:

Just a guess, but couldn't they run Midway express trains into the State Street subway using the original south portal to access the new station?

In theory this could work, but in practice I'm not sure how it would. Where in the State St subway would Midway Expresses turn around? How will CTA separate passengers paying premium Express fares from the rest of us at existing Red line stations? As things stand, during rush hours Red line trains run on 3-4 minute headways and on 7-8 minute headways during normal hours. New express trains would greatly interfere with this schedule. In my opinion, a new parallel tunnel would need to be built (I don't know where) that merges with the Blue line along the Ike, shares track with the Douglas branch until 18 St and then connects with the Orange line around Ashland from a brand new section of L structure (maybe 1 mile). An occasional third Orange line track would be necessary to keep express and local trains apart.

Your idea sounds better, but would cost much more. I thought maybe short tunnels would connect the Dearborn and State St. subways to the new station at Block 37 where they could be turned or maybe even run-through to the other airport creating a no-change connection.

While this would create interferrence with current traffic, the CTA might not care because it would be cheaper.

Just a thought.....

orangeline wrote:In theory this could work, but in practice I'm not sure how it would. Where in the State St subway would Midway Expresses turn around?

Seeing that one of the purposes of the project is to allow commuters to travel directly from one airport to the other quickly and without changing trains, it wouldn't turn around.

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/ctaa ... eid=127352

As part of the project, the contractor will build two short connecting tunnels and tracks that will link the existing Red and Blue Line subway tunnels with the new transit subway station.

This Brown Line pdf has a map of the block 37 layout. Northbound to northbound & southbound to southbound.

I just found the web site for the new CTA super-station/CBS 2 New studios in Downtown Chicago, and it show how the building will look like when it's finish.


Link:
http://www.108northstatestreet.com

On hold

"We're going to finish the shell and the tunnel," CTA President Ron Huberman said. "So if you think of it as a house, even though it's underground, it's as though we're building the foundation, the walls and the roof. We're just not finishing the inside."

For now, the half-built station won't even get the tracks that could facilitate the transfer of equipment between the Red and Blue Lines

Why dig the tunnel if there are no trains? Sell the damn block and run the trains we have on a reasonable schedule. Take care of the track. Have better weekend headways.

MetraRy wrote:i think the whole idea is stupid. the cta should be focusing on residents of chicago durning the funding crisis, not out of state travelers. get the system working good for residents first. afterall we are the ones who pay for it!

Don't you think residents of Chicago fly out of Midway?

What with the "stimulus", is there anything new about this project?

Thanks.

Zanperk wrote:http://www.transitchicago.com/news/ctaa ... eid=127352

As part of the project, the contractor will build two short connecting tunnels and tracks that will link the existing Red and Blue Line subway tunnels with the new transit subway station.

This Brown Line pdf has a map of the block 37 layout. Northbound to northbound & southbound to southbound.

As a non-resident of Chicago, am I missing something here? If they build what's shown for Block 37 on that Brown Line link, aren't they losing half the slots north of Washington on the Red Line and south of Randolph on the Blue Line? What's that going to do to normal service on the Red and Blue Lines?