In regard to the “simpler alternative” offered in your June 1 editorial headlined “Time to rethink downtown trolley,” I ask this: Have you ever actually visited the right-of-way you propose? I do not think so.
First, the Illinois Central ravine is not actually the property of the IC. It is, in fact, Metra’s Electric District and is hardly unused or available for use as a bus way.
Traffic may also be a problem for the buses using the St. Charles Air Line rail viaduct, which is used daily by Amtrak passenger trains and the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The route would also cross Metra’s Rock Island District mainline track south of the LaSalle Street Station.
Another slight obstacle to your proposal would be that the Air Line right-of-way crosses the South Branch of the Chicago River on a single-track railroad bridge and then crosses 25 feet above the Conrail/Amtrak right-of-way.
That leads to the last problem, the Conrail/Amtrak right-of-way, which is not only used daily by Amtrak passenger trains and Conrail but also by three of Metra’s commuter train routes: South West service to Orland Park, Heritage Corridor to Joliet and Burlington Northern to Aurora. Also, to the north of Union Station you would find Metra’s Milwaukee District commuter trains and Amtrak passenger trains to Milwaukee and Seattle.
In my opinion the only useful segment of your proposed bus way is the Chicago North Western right-of-way north of the Chicago River. The real problem with your solution–most of your selected right-of-way is used by commuter trains.
What about modernizing the old freight tunnels as a pedway system? Most of us could use the exercise.
FUR’S NOT COOL
Your May 16 article “Making fur cool” should have been entitled “Making cruelty cool.” If designers want to make a fashion statement that’s really cool, let them use faux fur. No person of conscience wants to wear the visible reminder of a thousand miseries.
