The Chicago Transit Authority's Red-Purple Bypass Project will add an additional track to speed up trains passing through the Belmont Station. The project requires the demolition of several neighborhood buildings.
This week, buildings will start coming down to make room for new track coming into the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Belmont train stop. "The demolition begins more than a year before the city plans to break ground on the flyover, which aims to unclog the bottleneck of Red, Brown and Purple Line trains that flow in and out of the Belmont Avenue station," Mary Wisniewski and Ese Olumhense write in the Chicago Tribune. The Red-Purple Bypass Project was first proposed in 2014, provoking criticism throughout the planning and funding phases.
The new flyover aims to speed traffic through the busy station. "The planned flyover calls for a bypass that would take Brown Line trains above Red and Purple Line trains north of the busy Belmont station. Currently, Brown Line trains have to the cross tracks of other lines before they can proceed north, forcing Red and Purple Line trains to wait," Wisniewski and Olumhense report. The CTA says that extra track would translate to 15 more trains through the station an hour.
Some neighbors complain that the added speed is not enough to justify tearing down 14 buildings or the projects cost. "The CTA has spent $32 million on real estate acquisitions and relocation costs for the bypass, while demolition is expected to cost an additional $3 million," Wisniewski and Olumhense write.
FULL STORY: Demolition of Lakeview buildings to begin this week for CTA 'flyover' project
No Fare Hikes for Chicago in 2019 Budget
The Chicago Transit Agency 2019 includes a flyover at the Belmont train station, rehabs for two Blue Line stops, and Red and Purple Line modernizations, among other things.
Major Ride Share Companies Accused of Taking Advantage of CTA Fatality
An apparent suicide stopped trains Tuesday morning at the Fullerton stop, which serves as a hub for Chicago's North Side transit. Prices for a ride from the area to downtown via Lyft reached triple digits.
Apartments Zoned Out of Near North Side Chicago Train Stations
Zoning around Chicago's public transit in relatively affluent areas won't allow for density or any kind of housing other than single family homes.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association