Red Line Washington stop remains closed indefinitely

Back in March, this page wrote about the cta Red Line's closure of the Washington stop and how great it is that trains stop just once between Grand Avenue and Monroe Street. From reading Jon Hilkevitch's column in the Chicago Tribune, I learned that the cta has no plans to reopen the Washington Red Line stop in the forseeable future. Fantastic. Now could we please close Madison/Wabash on the Loop Elevated too?

No one misses the Red Line's Washington stop

Until the mid-1990's,the Red Line* made just one stop between Grand Avenue and Monroe Street. This stop was called Washington. Northbound and southbound trains did not stop across from one another; the northbound train stop was considerably north of the southbound train stop--closer to Lake Street. This worked just fine. In the mid-1990's, the cta put the subway station under construction, and trains stopped twice in each direction: once at the "Lake" stop and once at the "Washington" stop. When construction ended, cta tried to return to one-stop operation, but because it stupidly installed a staircase/escalator in the middle of the platform instead of on either side (with a pedestrian walkway in between), passengers were squeezed while walking between the staircase structure and moving trains. So the cta decided trains should resume stopping twice in each direction. Of course this adds time to everyone's commute. Now there is construction again at Washington, and trains aren't stopping there; they stop at Monroe and Lake Streets.

This is working out great! Who needs a second stop at Lake-Washington anyway? Oh, it's such a long walk between the Lake stop and the underground tunnel to the Blue Line! No, it isn't. Passengers could probably use the exercise. And passengers going in the other direction--changing from the Blue Line to the Red Line? Northbound riders can do that at Jackson Boulevard. Southbound riders can walk, and it's really just 100 feet or so. (I'll time it next time I'm in the subway.) Please, cta. Keep the Washington station closed.


*Called the Howard-Englewood-Jackson Park until the cta's color-scheme revolution of the late-1990's.

Public transit: fare increase vs. service cuts

How would the mayor know?

When was the last time Hizzonerdamare Richard M. Daley took public transit to work?

It's been more than 20 years. He's had taxpayer-funded 24-hour limo service for as long as he's been mayor, and he was elected in 1989.

Once again, the mayor demonstrates how little he knows about real life in the city he runs. Last week, as the Chicago Transit Authority (cta) prepared to cut service frequency on most of its bus routes and all rail lines (except in Skokie), Mayor Daley said service cuts are preferable to fare increases.

For whom?

For people like the mayor who don't ride cta, I guess.

I have a sneaking suspicion that there's a sense at cta headquarters that now that we can find out via text message when the next bus is coming, we won't mind waiting. A longer wait is still inconvenient, especially when a trip requires more than one ride. And the rush-hour overcrowding on the busses with heaviest passenger demand and all trains will only get worse.

Three dollars a ride would be a lot to take, and there's so much wasteful spending in cta management that must be cut. (A ride is currently $2 or $2.25.) But the alternative, which we riders will face next week (beginning Feb. 7), is going to be worse. Every time cta cuts service, a percentage of its faithful ridership decide it's not dependable and seek other options. It does itself nor its passengers any favors by cutting service.

Letter to the Editor

I wanted to respond to a number of items in the news and in the Chicago Tribune's Voice of the People (letters to the editor) column:

(News item: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) decided McDonald's isn't executing poultry properly.)


I. Why does anyone still pay attention to PETA? This is a group that wants veganism to be enforced by Congress. What credibility does it have with regard to animal cruelty?

(Chicago Tribune Voice of the People, Feb. 13: a senior citizen defends former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's free rides for seniors on CTA and Metra. Naturally, he believes he's entitled to them.)

II. Proud senior citizen Paul Straka may be "tired of hearing people calling for dumping the free rides on CTA for senior citizens." (Voice, Feb. 13) I'm tired of hearing their pathetic justifications. "Seniors have earned their rights to free rides," Mr. Straka tells us. Just like they've earned their right to help themselves to 15 percent of my paycheck, I guess. And "they may choose to pay for their rides if they want to"? The next senior citizen who voluntarily gives up a senior citizen discount will be the first!

(Chicago Tribune Voice of the People, Feb. 15: a writer objects to Manny Ramirez turning down the L.A. Dodgers' offer of $25 million for one year and insults those of us who attend games, believing we're in need of being told to wake up. I truly resent that.)

III. I appreciate Richard C. Buielski telling me, "People: it's time to wake up," in regard to sports salaries (Voice, Feb. 15). Now I know what he thinks of my intelligence because I choose to attend professional sports events. I know the salaries are obscene and that the ticket/concession prices are outrageous. I enjoy the games. Mr. Buielski, I know what I'm doing, and I'm wide awake. Thanks for the insulting heads-up.

(A Chicago 2016 Olympics official stupidly compared the Chicago transit situation with three previous Olympics that have absolutely no relevance whatsoever.)

IV. Doug Arnot's comment in Jon Helkevitch's article about the Chicago Olympic bid's transit plan speaks volumes about how woefully unprepared the plan is. ("Olympic Transit Plan Could Go the Distance," Main, Feb. 15) He refers to plans that "worked" in Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Atlanta 1996, by all accounts, was a logistical disaster, with media, spectators and even athletes unable to reach venues on time. Salt Lake City hosted a much smaller Winter Games, and Los Angeles hosted the Olympics a generation ago that was one-third the size of the modern Summer Games. If Argot is using those cities as a reference, the Chicago Games will suffer from truly poor preparation.

Stop signs....the bane continues

Coming home from a meeting with an Israel expert in the Loop Friday afternoon, my commute reminded me once again how the usage of stop signs in Chicago has gone so horribly wrong. There are a number of streets that go under train tracks--either light rail (CTA elevated) or heavy rail (Metra). On some of these streets, like Pratt Boulevard and Morse Avenue, the underpass has two stop signs: one just before the underpass, and one at the end of the underpass, about 20 feet from the first. Who has time to stop twice? The stop signs are there to "protect" streets that run alongside the tracks. Maybe the stop signs those streets have for the major through street might be sufficient? But no. Through traffic must screech to a halt on the off-chance that someone might be coming from the side streets--which already have stop signs. Outrageous.