The streets surrounding Union Station mark the transportation hub of downtown Chicago, and they are long overdue for a traffic makeover that city transportation officials now are considering.
Canal Street between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard is the nexus of downtown commuting activities anchored by Metra, Amtrak and CTA buses, serving more than 200,000 travelers daily. It is the place where several city agencies are studying a re-engineering of traffic patterns to ease congestion and improve safety.
Taxi drivers dropping off or picking up riders weave in and out of the cab stand. They compete for space against CTA buses, private buses shuttling Metra commuters from Union Station to their jobs and the Amtrak-commissioned intercity buses that all dock on the east side of Canal.
“We have a lot of different uses for one block, and we recognize there is a broader issue that needs to be addressed,” said Rich Hazlett, coordinating planner in the Chicago Department of Transportation.
The already bad traffic situation reached the tipping point in April when Megabus, a super-low-cost bus company, joined the fray on the east side of Canal. Megabus serves eight Midwestern cities daily from its Chicago hub along the public bus-staging area on the east side of Canal.
“Even though most Megabus departures are in the off-peak period, traffic volumes exceed the capacity of that curb space far too often,” CDOT spokesman Brian Steele said. “Everyone recognizes the status quo is not acceptable.”
About 12,000 vehicles a day travel on Canal between Jackson and Adams, according to CDOT. That is in addition to about 14,300 vehicles a day on the Adams and Jackson bridges over the Chicago River and 11,600 vehicles on Clinton Street from Jackson to Adams.
The city is considering changes in the use of the curb space at Union Station and also is reviewing possible modifications in the street meter parking in the area, Hazlett said.
Alternative locations for Megabus are under review, Hazlett said. They include moving the Megabus staging point to the existing CTA bus lane on the west side of Canal; north of Adams on the east side of Canal; and south of Jackson on the east side of Canal.
The CTA is concerned because any changes could involve moving some current CTA bus stops on the east side of Canal.
“We have a limited amount of curb space, and we have already made adjustments in our schedules to meet the capacity constraints of the terminal,” CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said. “There needs to be more detailed discussions on the effect of each [possible change].”
About 20 Megabus buses operate daily from the current spot on the east side of Canal between Adams and Jackson. Only one Megabus at a time is supposed to occupy the bus stand, under an agreement between Megabus and the city, officials said.
But sometimes two Megabuses are present if the runs are off schedule, occupying the curb and the adjacent traffic lane and tightening the traffic knot.
Megabus officials said they are working with the city, Amtrak and the CTA to come up with a solution, but they said the problems on Canal predated Megabus’ arrival.
“The area around Union Station is where we want to be,” said Don Carmichael, senior vice president of operations at Coach USA, which owns Megabus. “Our rollout in Chicago has been very successful.”
