With federal funding for reconstruction of the deteriorated Douglas branch of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line apparently all but assured, more money could be on the way from Washington for improvements on the Brown Line, a top CTA official hinted Friday.
And, in more good news for the Chicago area, the Clinton administration revealed that it is backing funding for an 11-mile extension of Metra’s SouthWest Service line. New track would be laid between Orland Park, now the end of the line, and Manhattan.
On the Brown Line, formerly known as the Ravenswood Line, the CTA has proposed a $310 million upgrade.
“The president’s budget, which is coming out very soon, will speak to (that) issue,” said CTA President Frank Kruesi. “I think you should wait to see what the president’s budget may look like. I look forward to seeing what (it) shows.”
Kruesi declined further comment.
The CTA’s proposal calls for lengthening station platforms to allow operation of eight-car trains.
Officials believe that ridership growth, though robust, is constrained because stations now can handle trains only six cars long.
One federal official, who asked to remain anonymous, predicted that President Clinton’s proposal will not contain the full amount needed for the Brown Line project. But with Friday’s announcement that the federal government is in line to provide the lion’s share of funds for reconstruction of the Douglas, he believes Illinois FIRST money earmarked for Chicago now will be freed up to supplement the federal funds for the Brown Line upgrade.
The administration’s stamp of approval for the Metra project was announced by Vice President Al Gore.
Under a $165.4 million “full funding agreement” to be negotiated with Metra, the Clinton administration would give its stamp of approval to the project and its pledge to give it top priority in obtaining funding from Congress.
At City Hall, meanwhile, Mayor Richard Daley joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and, via telephone, Gore to announce a pending full funding pact to secure $349 million in federal money for the Blue Line Douglas branch project.
U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.), who has helped push for the funding, said reconstruction “will be enormously helpful to the residents of the city of Chicago,” particularly Douglas branch riders who are plagued by 15 m.p.h. slow zones that now encumber nearly half of the 6.6-mile route.
Assuming congressional approval of the Douglas appropriation, work on the line is expected to start late this year or early in 2001 and take “less than two years” to complete, Kruesi said.
