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Green Line: Lake branch
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Green Line: Lake branch
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Legend:
Click on a station name to see that station's profile (where available) |
Service Notes:
History:
The Lake branch of the Green Line began life as the elevated line of the Lake Street Elevated Railway Company, chartered on February 7, 1888. The company's chief sponsor was not one of its official incorporators: Michael Cassius McDonald. "King Mike", as he was known, controlled much of the city's gambling and vice operations and probably expected to make some quick money from the elevated on watered stock and speculated securities. The company's 25-year franchise allowed the company to build an elevated line from Canal Street to 40th Avenue. The area east of Canal was omitted due to severe opposition from downtown property owners.
In 1889, the Cofrode & Saylor company of Philadelphia was contracted to construct the Lake Street Elevated's ironwork and elevated structure. Less than six months after work began, with the structure in place only from Canal to Morgan (about a half mile), the construct with Cofrode & Saylor was canceled due to a disagreement over compensation for work thus far completed. Construction continued for another couple months until all work was suspended in November 1890. The company was also still trying to gain access to downtown and that same month, a franchise was secured allowing an extension into downtown following a vaguely defined alignment avoiding the use of streets, as well as an extension west from 40th to 52nd Avenue into a part of the city just recently annexed from the Town of Cicero.
By spring of 1892, the Lake Street company took direct control of construction and by October completed the elevated structure to Ashland Avenue. In early 1893, the company received a charter to build an extension into the outskirts of downtown to the corner of Madison Street and Market Street (now Wacker Drive). Although this was still blocks short of the heart of downtown, it may have been chosen because it was a wide boulevard and the owners of its factories and warehouses were generally receptive to the idea of transit access. The franchise was adopted with little difficulty. Around November 1890, the company contracted with Frank L. Underwood and Willard R. Green to complete the elevated structure from Ashland to 52nd Avenue. They were also charged with constructing the necessary stations and obtaining rolling stock, which would consist of 25 steam locomotives and 125 passenger coaches. In late 1894, another 10 locomotives were ordered. About the same time, two orders for 25 cars each were placed with the Gilbert Car Manufacturing Company and Pullman Palace Car Company. Another 25 car order was soon placed with Gilbert to fulfill the spec for 125 passenger coaches. These cars were painted Tuscan red.
East of Rockwell, the elevated structure columns are set wider, positioned along the curb. The section was originally designed such that it could accommodate adding two more tracks. (All the station platforms would have had to get relocated outward to do this.) West of Rockwell, the structure switches to placing the columns in the street; this stretch of elevated structure was only designed to accommodate three tracks. (Ironically, while the section that could accommodate four track never got any additional tracks, the section west of Rockwell did get a third track added, from Pulaski to Rockwell at its greatest extent, a small portion of which still exists east of Pulaski by West Shops.) The reason for the change was very basic -- to save money. The Lake Street Elevated Railroad Company had a number of challenges during construction, including difficulty marketing and selling bonds needed to finance construction, various legal proceedings against them, and termination of the contracts with the steel fabrication and erection sub-contractor in 1890 and then the main construction contractor in 1892 (at which point the structure had only been completed from Canal to Morgan). So, to save money, between Rockwell and Laramie construction costs were saved by reducing the size of the structure and locating the columns in the street [CTA at 45, p. 78].
By late 1893, enough of the structure was completed to begin limited operations. During the week of October 15th, the company began breaking in the locomotives. A dedication was held on November 4, 1893, attended by more than 1,000 guests. Regular passenger service on the Lake Street "L" began on November 6, 1893 between Madison & Market and California station (2800W). Although the line was finished at least to Homan (3400W), numerous stations were not yet complete. Over 50,000 passengers rode on the first day.
Operations were extended west as stations and the rest of the elevated structure was completed. On November 24th, service was extended to Homan Avenue. By January 1894, trains were operating to Hamlin stations, another stop west, and ridership was averaging 30,000 a day. The railroad was accepted from Underwood and Green by the company as completed on March 1, 1894. Later that month, service was extended to 48th (Cicero) Avenue, followed by completion to 52nd Avenue on April 29th.
Charles Tyson Yerkes, a traction baron with a questionable reputation who owned most of the streetcar lines on the west side of Chicago, decided to take over the Lake Street elevated in 1894, theorizing that with the Chicago West Division Railway Company and the Lake Street Elevated Railroad Company under his control, he could successfully minimize the negative effects of the competing Metropolitan Elevated. Yerkes immediately infused some badly needed capital into the cash-poor company, which had a heavy debt and was financially troubled.
 The interior waiting room of a typical Lake Street "L" station. Note the wood burning stove. Most Lake Street station houses were the exactly the same. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive) |
In January 1895, the company decided to make the change from steam to the electric traction as an economy move. The Lake Street was the first to convert from steam to electricity; the South Side Elevated would not do so for another couple years. The cost of the conversion was largely covered by the sale of the unbuilt downtown Wabash extension of the line to the Union Elevated. Still, it would be an expensive project, so costs were minimized by converting 37 existing coaches to perform as the new motor cars by installing cabs, motors, controls, and other systems. On the evening of Saturday, June 13, 1896, the steam locomotives made their last runs and were retired. The transition was decidedly low-key, with no fanfare and little press coverage, electric operation was temporarily suspended from June 20 to August 6, 1896 due to an accident involving the converted cars.
Out to Oak Park
The history of the Lake Street Elevated's extension westward from 52nd Avenue to Oak Park is long and complicated, filled with unrealistic requests, broken promises, and two towns with little interest in working together. The elevated line first requested a franchise in December 1893 to extend their line west from the 52nd Avenue terminal to 72nd (Harlem) Avenue at the west border of the township, but negotiations between Cicero Township's citizens and the railroad fell apart.
By 1898, another set of negotiations to extend the Lake Street Elevated into Cicero Township, now between the Cicero trustees and C.T. Yerkes, had been completed. But then Yerkes shocked the trustees by requesting that he be allowed to defer construction of the elevated structure past 52nd Avenue by 11 years, instead asking that he be allowed to construct a ramp down to grade-level and connect the elevated with this West Chicago Street Railroad and the Randolph Street Line of his Suburban Railroad, a one-time commuter steam railroad now electrified as a street railway. The trustees balked at this suggestion and had the upper-hand to back it up: Yerkes needed an extension on his franchise for the Cicero & Proviso, another street railway that his West Chicago took over. The township's trustees told Yerkes they would only extend his C&P franchise if he extended the "L" to 72nd (Harlem) Avenue and maintained the 5 cent fare through the township and into the Loop. In December, a franchise agreement was reached, but it gave the trustees from Austin everything they wanted and those from Oak Park very little. Under the terms, a franchise would be granted to the Cicero & Harlem Railway (rather than the Lake Street "L", due to its shaking finances) for a rapid transit extension from 52nd to 72nd Avenues. A fare of 5 cents would be charged for all trips east of Austin Avenue (encompassing the Austin community and Chicago), but a fare of 8 cents would be charged for through-trips originating west of Austin (in Oak Park). The franchise allowed for the construction of several lines and branches, including an extension straight west along South Boulevard (where the Lake branch of the Green Line currently runs in suburban Oak Park), a two-block extension south in Lombard Avenue to connect to the Suburban Railroad's Randolph Street line, and a branch south from the Randolph Street line in Cuyler Avenue to Harrison to link with another Suburban Railroad line in 64th (Ridgeland Avenue) to reach 22nd Street.
Besides the issue of the fare difference, another clause in the franchise was a slap in the face to the Oak Park residents: a innocuous-sounding clause buried deep within gave the Lake Street Elevated the option of deferring construction of the South Boulevard line (the service that was truly coveted) west of Austin Avenue if service were provided on Randolph via the Suburban Railroad line. Yerkes realized he had an out to his agreement: if he could get Lake Street service to Austin Avenue by April 15, 1899, the franchise would remain in effect. Then, he just had to built a short extension to Lombard and a connection south to the Suburban line, he would never have to pay to build the South Boulevard extension to downtown Oak Park. And that's exactly what he did. Following the extension of service to Wisconsin Avenue, the Lake Street Elevated exercised another one of their options by building the single-track branch from the Randolph trackage to the Cuyler Avenue streetcar line. It was not intended for local service, however: it was meant to be a connection for Lake Street trains to access the Harlem Race Track at Roosevelt and Hannah Avenue in the Village of Harlem (now Forest Park). Service began on May 30, 1899. For more information on this service, check out the Cuyler Avenue Line page in the Lines & Routes area of the Operations section.
In spite of having found a way to get out of building the South Boulevard extension, Yerkes decided in the summer of 1900 to not allow his option to build there to lapse and prepare plans for the new service. In late January 1901, the trains of the Lake Street Elevated were extended west to Wisconsin (Marion) Avenue and South Boulevard via the new extension. At the same time, operations via the Randolph Street tracks of the Suburban Railroad were discontinued. "L" service there had lasted less than two years. The Lake Street service was now in its final and current alignment from downtown Chicago to downtown Oak Park.
Service Revisions
One of the myriad of complaints the residents of Oak Park levied against the Lake Street Elevated was the lack of express service to their suburb.The elevated had refused to operate express service to Oak Park on a regular basis because the railroad's center track, located between Rockwell and Hamlin, was used for car storage. There was insufficient room in the small Hamlin Yard to store all of the railroad's cars, so they could not be displaced every day for expresses to use the track. So, imagine the residents' surprise when, in 1902, they read in their newspaper about the inauguration of express service to Oak Park, effective August 11th. The express service itself was operated between Wisconsin/South Blvd. and the Loop in the morning rush hours and vice versa in the evening, while expresses operated between the Loop and Wisconsin/Randolph in the evening only. They made no stops between 48th Avenue and Oakley and skipped three more stations between Oakley and Canal. They were highly successful and soon Saturday service and weekday AM service from the Randolph branch was added. The service also necessitated a change from right-hand running to left-hand running between the Loop and Austin Avenue, which reduced crossing conflicts upon entering the Loop (which was run as a bi-directional left-hand railroad at the time).
By 1903, the Lake Street Elevated finally succumbed to the financial problems that had dogged just about all of its existence. The courts declared the company insolvent in the fall of 1903 and on November 5, 1903, a plan was approved that would sell the assets of the Lake Street Elevated to the newly-formed Chicago & Oak Park Elevated Railroad Company (C&OP). A new name did little to solve the problems of the old company, however. In an effort to keep the line afloat, the Northwestern Elevated bought stock in the C&OP and had a controlling 52% of the shares by 1912. This led to a sharing of equipment between the two companies (with the C&OP usually borrowing the Northwestern's). Ultimately, the C&OP met the same fate as the Lake Street Elevated, entering receivership on November 13, 1911. This time, utilities magnate Samuel Insull -- who had gained a contract to be the elevated line's sole provider of electric power from his Edison Company back in 1902 -- was named receiver.
Even in its precarious financial position, the C&OP did make some small improvements to its service. On October 6, 1906, the company started a new express schedule that cut travel time to the Loop from the Wisconsin Avenue terminal down to just 28 minutes. The C&OP built a single-track extension west from its Wisconsin terminal, across Harlem Avenue (the city limits between Oak Park and Forest Park), in 1909. In March 1910, a franchise was granted to the Chicago & Elmhurst interurban (one of the many proposed lines to connect with the C&OP) to allow operations as far west on the extension as Marengo Avenue. The short extension to Marengo Avenue opened on May 20, 1910, when trains were extended from Wisconsin Avenue to the new Forest Park terminal. A second track across Harlem Avenue and into Forest Park terminal was added a few years later.
Lake Street service remained more-or-less the same over the years, but was tweaked a little bit a few times. When the CTA look over in 1947, the Lake Street Division was running the following local/express schedule:
Outside of rush hour, Forest Park-to-Loop locals were the norm. There were also some weekday midday Shoppers Specials that ran every half hour express from Hamlin to the Loop, possibly added to the schedule in December 1923.
Replacement of Lake Street Bridge Over Chicago River
http://chicagoloopbridges.com/bridges12/SB12/LAKE12-5.html
W. Lake St. bridge - opened on November 6, 1916
The W. Lake St. bridge is the newest inductee to the “100 Club.” There are now ten CDOT bridges in the club. Of these ten, six are operated on a regular basis including three Loop Bridges. (In addition to Lake St., the other two are Washington and Jackson).
One hundred years ago the world's first double-decked trunnion bascule bridge opened at Lake St. The complex bridge was opened in stages in 1916. L-trains crossed the upper deck March 4th and street cars crossed the lower deck October 15th. Pedestrians and autos first crossed on November 6th completing the project.
The current bridge replaced a double-decked center pier swing bridge. All swing bridges in Chicago had been identified as obstructions to navigation and ordered removed by the U.S. War Department in the late 1800's. Replacing the swing bridges was a decades long process. The last Loop swing bridge was removed at Clark St. in 1929.
When it came time to replace the Lake St. swing bridge, the operators of the Chicago and Oak Park Elevated line which used the top deck of the bridge were concerned about delays in rail service due to construction of the replacement bridge. Chicago Public Works (CPW) engineers looked at various options to minimize the impact of construction on train service and determined the best approach was to continue rail traffic across the existing bridge while the new bridge was under construction.
Bids were opened in September of that year and all bids exceeded the amount appropriated for construction of the bridge. Citing the superiority and economy of their patented designs, Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Co., Strauss Bascule Bridge Co., and Strobel Steel Construction (Rall bascule lift) claimed that their bridges would be better and less expensive than the city's initial design.
In response to these claims, the Finance Committee of the Chicago City Council created a three engineer commission charged with evaluating competing bridge designs. The City Council appointed representatives from the city (John Ericson, City Engineer) and the elevated railway (J. E. Greiner, Consulting Engineer based in Baltimore). The third member, W.H. Finley (Chief Engineer of the Chicago & Northwestern RR), was selected by the appointed members.
Three competing designs emerged – a vertical lift bridge, a single leaf trunnion bascule, and a double leaf trunnion bascule. The vertical lift bridge was chosen by the engineer commission. As the double leaf trunnion bascule was more in tune with the aesthetic ideals of the 1909 Plan of Chicago, advocates favoring the more aesthetic bridge lobbied for their choice and won.
CPW engineers revised their earlier double leaf trunnion bascule design for cost savings. Construction contracts were awarded in March 1914. Substructure work began almost immediately.
The new bridge was built around the existing swing bridge with the bascule leaves in the vertical position. Once the leaves were complete, the swing bridge was rotated open, cut up, and floated away on the river. The bascule leaves were lowered into place and the railroad deck completed. The elevated rail traffic was stopped on the old bridge Sunday, February 27, 1916 and resumed on the new bridge March 4th (in 6 days, 14 hours). Street car traffic resumed on October 15th. Auto and pedestrian traffic was interrupted for the entire construction period and resumed on November 6th.
The staggered openings of the various traffic types using this bridge was due to the construction of the west approach to the lower deck of the bridge. The elevated railway and the surface line (Pennsylvania RR) had the shared responsibility to build the viaduct over the existing railroad tracks on the west bank but disagreed over the cost sharing thus delaying the project.
If maintaining traffic over an old bridge while a new bridge is being built isn't complicated enough, the swing bridge was operated 6132 times in 1914-15 during the construction project. In the hand-off year of 1916, both bridges were operated a total of 3321 times for river traffic.
The bridge house plaque summarizes the key players in the design and construction of this bridge. The steel was provided by the American Bridge Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel at the time.
This is the fifth bridge in approximately 165 years at this river crossing, yet it has been in place for most of that time. The longevity of this bridge is a testament to the Chicago engineering team that developed and refined the Chicago-type bascule trunnion bridge and the CDOT team that operates and maintains them. Today, this workhorse carries about 4,000 pedestrians, 14,500 cars, 526 trains every day and is operated about 40 times each year for seasonal sailboat runs.
WANTED TO TEAR DOWN MARKET STUB IN WWII FOR SCRAP, AND AFTER AS UNNEEDED (see articles in files, computer & paper)
Developments in the CTA Era
The Lake Street Elevated's financial problems were not unusual, nor were they unforeseen. Historically, the transit lines on the West Side have been the weakest and their origin of these problems provides insight not only into the Lake Street's crisis, but into the Chicago transit system's larger problems. Transit on the West Side was impacted by a number of factors that date back to the design of the system and how the territory it served developed over time. This corridor had three parallel rapid transit lines -- the Lake, Garfield (later Congress) and Douglas lines -- within a three mile strip. Combine this with the fact that all three lines had no express dedicated tracks and such close station spacings that they were almost reduced to being elevated streetcar lines, plus the fact that there were indeed several paralleling (and competing) streetcar lines in the same corridor, and the impending problems are obvious. Compounding this over-servicing, the neighborhoods along these lines attained only moderate density, never achieving the high level of density of their north and south side counterparts whose transit lines also ran with less competition.
An examination of population densities (which can also be looked upon as potential markets) bear out some of the extent of the problem. Looking at 1956 population figures collected by Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS), the Lake Street corridor had a population density of 20,126 persons per square mile, while the Garfield Park line a mile south had a density of 16,544. Also operating in the same corridor were the #16 Lake, #131 Washington, #20 Madison, #126 Jackson, and #7 Harrison buses... all within a one mile corridor! On the other hand, the North Side elevated (which had a few paralleling buses lines, but many of which had somewhat different routes and markets) had a population density of 29,506 and an even larger market of 33,887 was enjoyed by the South Side elevated's Jackson Park corridor (which had a handful of parallel bus lines, but the density to justify them). Neither of the latter two "L" corridors had direct, parallel rapid transit competition. The proximity of "L" (and streetcar) lines and close station spacings were typical of the thinking of 19th century private transit planners who wanted their lines to be competitive. Unfortunately, it was also a mode of thinking that made the lines inefficient and hard to justify. Despite early warnings from the CTA that some these lines should be closed or combined due to insufficient ridership to justify them, all three West Side "L" lines were retained after the CTA's take over in 1947, largely for political reasons. Eventually, half of the Lake Street elevated's stations would be closed and the number of stations on the Congress Line would be less than half the number they replaced on the Garfield Line to try and remove some of the duplication, but some of the problems inherent in this corridor remain to this day. As ® late as 1975, the Lake and parallel Congress lines were identified in an economic study as two of the CTA's four worst performing lines in terms of cost recovery ratios.
When the CTA took over in 1947, the "L" was a tangled series of complex schedules involving multiple express and local services (see above), often running over the same tracks and getting in each others' way. In spite of a line that would seem to have a good mix of locals and expresses, the CTA described the Lake Street Line as a "conglomeration moving at a slow speed." The express trains could only operate in one direction and even then, the center express track only ran part of the length of the line. All of the line's cars were old wooden motors and trailers, which moved slowly and were in an advanced state of aging. Stations were spaced closely (every two blocks, in some parts) making it scarsely faster then parallel streetcars and buses. After a period of study and deliberation, the CTA abandoned all local/express service on the Lake Street Line and instituted a new skip-stop scheme instead.
The Lake Street was the first line to receive the CTA's new A/B skip-stop scheme on April 5, 1948 because it was considered the most dire case on the rapid transit system. Stations were designated "A" stops, "B" stops, or "AB" stops, while trains were designated "A" trains, "B" trains, and "All-Stop" trains, with each stopping only at their respective stations. The "A" and "B" stops were alternated and mixed in with the "AB" stops (although the entire western end of the line beyond Pulaski were "AB" stations). Ten stations were closed (Lombard, Menard, Kostner, Sacramento, Campbell, Oakley, Damen, Ashland, Racine, and Morgan), the Market Stub Terminal was closed and all trains were routed onto the Loop, and the center express track was taken out of revenue service, used only for car storage. Running time was cut from 35 minutes (for locals) to 24 minutes. The A/B system was spread to other lines after the Lake Street experiment was deemed a success.
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The Market Street Stub and the Randolph & Market station is seen looking northeast from Washington Street west of Market. The design of the platform canopy is typical of those built for island platforms by the Lake Street Elevated in the 1890s. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the CTA Collection) |
TN April 1958:
TO FACILITATE progress of construction work on the new Northwest highway project, alterations are being made on the Lake street "L" structure at Lake and Union streets. Eighteen columns are being removed and replaced with eight bridge girders to provide space for the two six-lane highways of the new traffic artery. Later, steel will be placed for a bridge at street level to permit excavation for the highway proper which will pass under the bridge at this location. Meanwhile, service on the Lake Street and Douglas Park transit lines continues without interruption. Preparations were being made to hoist one of the heavy steel girders into place as this photo was taken. [PHOTO CAPTION, TN ENTRY INCLUDES PHOTO]
 Text Lake St Dedication 12-27-62. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the CTA Collection) |
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C&NW track elevation from the west side of Chicago through fleets park took place circa 1909-12
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TN May 1957:
REACH PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT ON OAK PARK TRACK ELEVATION
INFORMAL AGREEMENT on an annual rental payment of $168,800 by Chicago Transit Authority for use of 2-1/2 miles of Chicago & North Western right-of-way to elevate the ground-level section of CTA's Lake Street rapid tran- sit route was announced recently by V. E. Gunlock, chairman of Chicago Transit Board, and Ben W. Heineman, chairman of the North Western board.
Terms of the formal contract are now being drafted for submission to Chicago Transit Board, and to the Chicago and North Western.
The informal agreement represents a compromise, inasmuch as both the CTA and the North Western made substantial concessions in order to reach the agreement. CTA's last offer was a rental payment of $105,856.
The annual rental payment for use of the right-of-way is in addition to an estimated expenditure of $4,000,000 to elevate CTA's Lake Street rapid transit route from Laramie avenue, Chicago, west to Harlem avenue, Oak Park.
Five public agencies, the CTA, the City of Chicago, the Village of Oak Park, Cook County and the State of Illinois, have agreed informally to share the construction cost as follows: CTA, $600,000; City of Chicago, $600,000; Oak Park, $800,000; Cook County, $1,000,000, and the State of Illinois, $1,000,000.
On April 2, Oak Park voters approved the issuance of a bond issue to pay Oak Park's share of the construction cost.
Elevation of the ground level section of the Lake Street route will eliminate serious delays to street traffic and hazards to pedestrians, and will substantially speed up the Lake Street rapid transit service.
Twenty grade crossings will be eliminated where currently an estimated 200,000 motorists and pedestrians are delayed on an average week-day by the operation of Lake Street trains at ground level in this section.
On a week-day, more than 500 trains operate through these grade crossings. In the peak hour, there are 48 trains, half of them in-bound, and half out- bound, and the gates at some crossings may be down, blocking both street and pedestrian traffic, for a total of 25 minutes in this peak hour.
TN March 1958:
Approve Agreements for Lake Street Elevation
CHICAGO TRANSIT Board at its meeting on February 6 approved and authorized Chairman V. E. Gunlock to sign a series of three agreements providing for the elevation of the ground-level section of CTA's Lake Street rapid transit route between Laramie avenue, Chicago, and Harlem avenue, Oak Park, at an estimated construction cost of $4,000,000.
The agreements are now being circulated among the other five co-operating agencies for their signatures.
Construction work on the project, which requires CTA's use of a two and a half-mile long section of the Chicago and North Western railroad's elevated right-of-way, is scheduled to start as soon as the other agencies have signed the agreements. Detailed plans for the project are now being completed.
Cost of the project is to be shared approximately as follows:
CTA, $600,000; City of Chicago, $600,000; Village of Oak Park, $800,000; Cook County, $1,000,000; and the State of Illinois, $1,000,000.
Plan Five New Stations
Two of the agreements relate to the construction and joint financing of the project. The third is a perpetual lease agreement permitting CTA to use a two-track section of the Chicago and North Western's elevated right-of-way for an annual rental payment of $168,800.
There are to be five stations along the new elevated section of the Lake Street rapid transit route which are to be located as follows:
Between Central and Parkside avenues; between Austin boulevard and Mason avenue; between Cuyler and Ridge- land avenues, Oak Park; between Oak Park and Euclid avenues, Oak Park, and between Harlem avenue and Marion street, Oak Park.
Chairman Gunlock described the track elevation project as an outstanding example of public agency co-operation to improve public transit and to reduce street traffic congestion and traffic hazards.
"This outstanding public service project is the result of a series of conferences in Mayor Daley's office at which representatives of the five public agencies involved agreed that the public benefits to be obtained warranted joint action," Mr. Gunlock said. "These five public agencies are making a substantial investment in the future of the Chicago metropolitan area, which, I am certain, will pay handsome dividends in the form of improved rapid transit and better and safer street traffic conditions within the project's area of influence. It is conceivable that this project would be- come the precedent for a series of co-operative agreements among public agencies jointly to finance extensions and improvements of off-the-street rapid transit that are so urgently needed in the Chicago metropolitan area."
Twenty-two grade crossings of the Lake Street rapid transit route, where an estimated 200,000 motorists and pedestrians are subjected to traffic delays and hazards each weekday, will be eliminated by the track elevation project.
More than 500 rapid transit trains operate through these grade crossings each weekday. In the peak hour, there are 48 trains, half in-bound and half out-bound, and the gates at some crossings may be down, blocking both street and pedestrian traffic, for a total of 25 minutes in this hour.
22 Grade Crossings Eliminated
The grade crossings being eliminated-14 in Oak Park and eight in Chicago-are at Harlem avenue, Marion street, and Home, Clinton, Kenilworth, Oak Park, Euclid, East Scoville, Elmwood (pedestrian crossing), Ridgeland, Harvey, Lombard, and Humphrey avenues in Oak Park, and at Austin boulevard, Mayfield, Menard, Waller, Parkside, Central, Pine and Long avenues in Chicago.
The North Western railroad is to start construction work on the project by installing a new track adjacent to the two north tracks, thereby converting from a four-track to a three-track operation in the project area. For this cost, the North Western will be reimbursed by the co-operating pub- lic agencies.
When the railroad has completed its work, CTA as the managing agency for the project, will take over, realign and equip for rapid transit operation the two tracks on the south part of the railroad's right-of-way. This construction will also include station facilities, electrical, and communication signal facilities, and other fixed transportation equipment. A fence will be erected to separate the two railroads.
After the elevated right-of-way is in use, CTA is to remove its surface tracks, and repave the parts of the north-south streets presently occupied by its tracks. CTA will also con- vey to the Village of Oak Park whatever rights it has to that part of South boulevard now being used as rapid transit right-of-way between Austin boulevard and Harlem avenue.
TN March 1959:
Lake Street Elevation Project To Start This Spring
WAY WAS cleared on February 10 for start of construction on the $4.,000,000 co-operative project of elevating the ground level section of the Lake Street rapid transit route, between Laramie avenue, Chicago, and just west of Harlem avenue, Oak Park, a distance of two. and a half miles.
The last of the signatures required on a series of agreements, covering various phases of the project, were append- ed at Springfield by the State of Illinois. Two of the agreements, the five-party agreement signed by all participating agencies, a supplement to it, and the right-of-way lease agreement with CTA are to be presented to the Illinois Commerce Commission by the Chicago and North Western railroad for commission approval.
Cost of the project is to be shared as follows: State of Illinois, $1,000,000; Cook County, $1,000,000; Oak Park, $800,000; City of Chicago, $600,000, and CTA, $600,000.
Railroad to Start Work
Construction is scheduled to start this spring as soon as weather conditions permit. The initial construction work is to be done by the Chicago and North Western railroad, the south part of whose elevated right-of-way will be used for the CTA tracks. It is estimated that the North Western will require approximately eight months to clear the south portion of its right-of-way, and construct a third track for its own operations on the north portion of its right-of-way.
In addition to its $6,00,000 share of the $4,000,000 construction cost, CTA is leasing the railroad's right-of-way for the two south tracks at a rental cost of $168,800 a year.
Twenty-two grade crossings, where an estimated 200,000 motorists and pedestrians are subjected to traffic delays and hazards each weekday, will be eliminated.
More than 500 rapid transit trains operate through these grade crossings each weekday. In the peak hour, there are 48 trains, half in-bound and half out-hound, and the gates at some crossings may be down, blocking both street and pedestrian traffic, for a total of 25 minutes in this peak hour.
"The five public agencies co-operating in this important public works project are making a substantial investment in the future of the Chicago metropolitan area, which, I am certain, will pay very substantial dividends to the public in the form of convenience and safety," said V. E. Gunlock, chairman of Chicago Transit Board. "This could he the forerunner of a series of joint agreements among public agencies to participate in financing extensions and improvements of rapid transit that are so urgently needed. The agreements providing for construction of this project resulted from a series of conferences in Mayor Daley's office at which representatives of the five public agencies agreed that the public benefits to be obtained warranted joint participation."
There are three major agreements involved, and a supple- mental agreement to the so-called five-way agreement, which is signed by all five public agencies. The supplemental agreement establishes two different accounting methods in recording costs, one established by the U.S. Bureau of Pub- lic Roads, and the other by the Railroad General Managers' Association. Cost items not permitted by the Bureau of Public Roads are to be shared equally by the City of Chicago, Oak Park and CTA.
Surface Tracks to he Removed
The lease agreement is signed only by the North Western and the CTA. And the agreement with Oak Park, relating to the abandonment of CTA's right-of-way in South boulevard, is signed only by Oak Park and CTA.
When the elevated right-of-way is in use, CTA is to re- move its surface tracks from South boulevard, repave the intersection areas at the present north-south street crossings, and convey the abandoned right-of-way to Oak Park for street purposes.
There are to be five modern-design, street-level waiting rooms, generally at the points where stations are now located, as follows: between Central and Parkside; between Austin and Mason; between Cuyler and Ridgeland, Oak Park; between Oak Park and Euclid in Oak Park, and be- tween Harlem avenue and Marion in Oak Park.
The grade crossings being eliminated-14 in Oak Park and eight in Chicago-are at Harlem, Marion, Home, Clinton, Kenilworth, Oak Park, Euclid, East, Scoville, Elmwood (pedestrian crossing), Ridgeland, Harvey, Lombard, and Humphrey in Oak Park, and at Austin, Mayfield, Menard, Waller, Parkside, Central, Pine and Long in Chicago.
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TN Feb 1960:
Begin Work on Lake Street Elevation Project
CONSTRUCTION WORK was started on January 13 on the $4,0.0.0.,0.0.0p.roject, being jointly financed by public agencies, to elevate the two and a half mile, ground-level section of CTA's Lake rapid transit route.
Presently the Lake rapid transit route operates at ground level between Laramie avenue, Chicago, and Harlem avenue, Oak Park. These tracks are to be relocated on the adjacent elevated right-of-way of the Chicago and North Western railroad, and new, modern rapid transit stations are to be built in the area.
The co-operating public agencies informally agreed almost two years ago to share in the cost of the project. Elimination of further delays in starting construction was accomplished by a recent agreement to segregate the Federal section from the rest of the project.
Start Rearranging Tracks
This agreement enabled CTA, as manager of the project for the co-operating public agencies, to authorize the North Western to proceed immediately with the rearrangement of its tracks on the north half of its right-of-way between Laramie and Harlem avenues.
Meanwhile, CTA started to remove the station structures beginning at Central avenue and working west. There are four station structures to be removed: at Central avenue, at Austin boulevard, at Ridgeland avenue, and at Oak Park avenue. These North Western stations were recently closed by permission of the Illinois Commerce Commission.
The Federal Aid section is the proposed viaduct over busy Harlem avenue, and is only 1,526 feet long, including a 66-foot span over the street, and the east and west approaches, each 730 feet long. The cost is estimated at $1,000,000 toward which the Federal Bureau of Public Roads has agreed to contribute $195,000. The balance of $805,000 is to be borne by the State of Illinois.
Five public agencies, not including the Federal government, are sharing the cost of the project. Their respective shares are as follows: CTA, $600,000; City of Chicago, $600,000; Oak Park, $800,000; Cook County, $1,000,000; and the State of Illinois (including Federal Aid), $1,000,000. The county's share will be paid by the state from the county's share of the state motor fuel tax.
The Chicago and North Western's present two south tracks between Laramie avenue and Harlem avenue will be used for the Lake rapid transit route. One of the tracks will be relocated at the station areas, and new stations will be built at Central-Parkside, Austin-Mayfield, Ridgeland, Oak Park-Euclid, and at Harlem-Marion.
22 Grade Crossings Eliminated
The Chicago and North Western railroad will build a new track in this section, relocate its northernmost track, and confine its operations to three tracks instead of the present four tracks. The North Western has been authorized to proceed with this work. By elevating the ground-level tracks of the Lake rapid transit route, a total of 22 grade crossings will be eliminated. This will end the existing serious delays to street traffic and hazards to pedestrians. Train service will be materially speeded up. On a weekday more than 500 trains operate through these grade crossings. In the peak hour, the gates at some crossings may be down for an accumulated total of 25 minutes, blocking all traffic.
For use of the North Western right-of-way and tracks, CTA is to pay a rental of $168,000 a year. Just recently, CTA completed purchase of land and lease of additional right-of-way from the North Western railroad to be used in constructing new terminal and yard facilities west of Harlem avenue.
Acquire Land for Terminal
For the new terminal facilities, CTA has leased 1,707 feet of two-track right-of-way extending west from the west side of Harlem avenue. The rental payment is $9,005 a year. This right-of-way adjoins the right-of-way leased for the track elevation project.
Two tracts of land were purchased. One tract, containing 79,573 square feet and adjoining the leased trackage area on the south, will be used for new yard facilities to replace the present yard at Harlem avenue. It was purchased at a cost of $77,105.03. The other tract, containing 2,800 square feet, was purchased at a cost of $3,500. It, together with adjacent land already owned by CTA, will be used as a site for a new substation supplementing the present substation at Lombard avenue. These yard and terminal facilities will be built and financed by CTA.
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For August 1961 Transit News:
Lake Street trains recently began operating eastbound over tracks placed on a temporary trestle in Lake Street west of Laramie Avenue as a preliminary step in the project to connect CTA's elevated tracks to a new right-of-way on the North Western Railway embankment.
The trestle, extending 420 feet between Laramie and Lockwood avenues, was erected over almost half of Lake Street south of the present elevated structure. CTA trains operated over the trestle and tracks while work on a permanent bridge was undertaken to the north. The first step was the pouring of concrete pads on which the wooden trestle rested. The permanent track structure is a retaining wall and fill for about 150 feet and steel structure for about 230 feet.
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From 1962 CTA Annual Report:
Relocation of 21/2 mile, of the Authority's Lake Street Rapid Transit tracks from street-grade to the adjacent elevated right-of-way of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was completed and placed in operation October 28, 1962 This project eliminated 22 grade crossings, cleared the way for safer and improved street traffic, and resulted in better and faster transit service. One new track was laid on the elevated roadbed and two other tracks were realigned, water main, were relocated, electrical, signal and communication facilities, and other fixed transportation equipment and facilities were installed, and five new stations were constructed Island-type platforms at each of the stations are long enough to accommodate eight-car trains, each station is identified by a distinctive color, and three of the stations-Central, Austin and Oak Park-are equipped with reversible, dual-operation escalators External waifs are of ceramic glazed brick in the color code for the respective station This color is repeated in porcelain enamel panels of each station front, in the glazed ceramic tile of interior walls, in agents' booth, and in the metal platform canopies which extend over the roofs of cars at train stops to protect boarding and alighting passengers from rain, sleet and snow, Large picture windows enhance a light and bright interior Passenger control facilities include agent-controlled, illuminated fare indicator turnstiles, coin-operated turnstiles, and electrically-operated, remotely-controlled exit turnstiles. Electric signs over the entrance of each station are to identify the station and display the travel time between the station and Chicago's loop.
This $4,000,000 improvement establishes a precedent and a pattern for public agency cooperation in mass transportation projects in the future when widespread public benefits, including improvement in street traffic flow, may be obtained. The cost was shared as follows The U, S Bureau of Public Roads and the State of Illinois, $1,000,000; County of Cook, $1,000,000; Oak Park, $800,000; the City of Chicago and the CTA, $600,000 each The Bureau of Public Roads' share was specifically limited to the street crossing and its approaches at Harfem Avenue, an anerial highway.
February 1963 Transit News:
Complete First Permanent Station on Lake Route
WITH THE installation of permanent fixtures and facilities, Harlem-Marion station recently became the first to be completed on the newly elevated section of the Lake street route.
The new station, one of five constructed in connection with the elevation project, has been in operation with temporary facilities since service was started on October 28 of last year.
Similar in design to the four other stations which serve that portion of the route which was removed from street level to the embankment of the Chicago and North Western railway, it is the only one that has the station entrance at grade level. The others are set back into the retaining wall, with a step-up of about three feet to the station proper.
The station incorporates, as do the others, many refinements such as large picture windows, external walls of ceramic glazed brick, porcelain enamel panels on the station front, glazed ceramic tile interior walls and porcelain enamel panels in the agent's booth. It is identified by the distinctive green color scheme which is carried out in interior and exterior walls and platform canopies and panels.
Passenger control facilities include agent-controlled, illuminated fare indication turnstiles, coin-operated turnstiles and electrically-operated, remotely controlled exit stiles. Work also is progressing steadily on the other stations along the route. These are Central-Parkside, Austin-Mason, Ridgeland, and Oak Park-Euclid.
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February 1963 Transit News:
Remove Crossing Installations on Lake Street
MARKING THE end of an era which began when wooden "L" cars ran side by side with the horse and buggy on West Side and Oak Park streets, CTA crews recently removed the gateman's shanties and the last traces of the manually-operated crossing gates from Lake street and South boulevard between Long avenue and Marion street.
Dismantling of the shanties and removal of the concrete-embedded gate posts of the crossing gates at 21 street crossing locations was completed on February 6, thus clearing the way for removal from the streets of all grade-level facilities which were replaced when trains began operating on the new right~of-way.
The gates were last used during the early morning on October 28, 1962, just before CTA's Lake rapid transit route trains began operating over the elevated Chicago and North Western railway right-of-way. Since then, the wooden gates have been dismantled at all 22 grade crossings along the two and a half mile abandoned street-level route. The gates and shanty were previously removed from the Harlem avenue grade crossing to make way for station construction.
The Lake street elevated line was extended down a ramp at Laramie avenue to street-level and west to Marion avenue in two stages by 1901. However, crossing gates were not constructed along the streetgrade section of the electric line until about 1910, when the elevation of the North Western created a traffic hazard.
The familiar-sounding locomotive bells began pealing out their warnings of an approaching train some years later when vehicular traffic became a problem. With the elevation of service, the bells were disconnected and sold to eager buyers.
Contracts will be let early this spring for the removal of the remaining grade-level station buildings, platforms, tracks, and the overhead power distribution system. The sale of the salvaged rail and wire is to be credited against the cost of clearing the former right-of-way. This work will not include removal of track in the intersections. These areas will be repaved by Chicago and Oak Park.
When the entire project is completed, the street will truly take on a new look. Modern CTA station buildings are being completed on parts of the site of the old route and the land no longer occupied by the CTA will revert to the City of Chicago and Village of Oak Park for development.
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June 1963 Transit News:
Abandoned Lake St. Right-of-Way Being Removed
WORK HAS started on the wrecking, removal and dismantling of all facilities on the abandoned grade-level section of the Lake rapid transit route between Long avenue, Chicago, and Harlem avenue, Oak Park, and is expected to be completed within 90 days.
The contract for demolishing the obsolete facilities was awarded to National Wrecking company of Chicago, who will pay CTA approximately $10,000, retaining and selling the salvaged materials, namely the track and overhead cables.
The work which started at Harlem avenue and progressed eastward to Long avenue includes removal of grade-level track, ties, platforms, canopies, stations, fences, shanties, trolley wires, feeder cables, telephone wires, and other operating equipment.
The entire right-of-way between intersecting streets is to be finish graded and sloped to match adjacent pavement after track removal has been completed.
The right-of-way was taken out of service October 28, 1962, when Lake trains began operating over leased right-of-way on the adjacent North Western railway embankment.
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July 1963 Transit News:
Lake Street Abandonment Job Nears Completion
THE JOB of demolishing the grade-level section of the Lake rapid transit route is entering. its final stage as wrecking crews proceed with the work of pulling up rails and ties from the abandoned right-of-way. Salvaged material is being moved in trucks by the contractor. Trolley wires and electrical installations have been taken down and abolishment of the old station buildings has been completed.
It was announced that work on the widening and repaving of Lake stre et is scheduled to get under way early in August. The project includes widening Lake street between three and six feet at the south curb and placement of a narrow median strip on which street lighting will be located.
Ties to be carted away in the clean-up preliminary to the start of the street widening are shown in the foreground of this photo looking west from Cuyler avenue. The station on the upper level is the new Ridgeland avenue facility.
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September 1963 Transit News:
WIDENING OF South Boulevard through Oak Park from Austin to Harlem Avenues is well under way. Sidewalks and curbs have been placed on the north side of the street on the section which was formerly occupied by the grade-level tracks of the Lake rapid transit route, and street repaving was near completion when this photo looking west from Marion street was taken recently. The project includes widening the street between three and six feet at the south curb and placement of a narrow median strip on which street lighting will be located.
* * * * *
FROM EVELATION BROCHURE:
The new Central station is under construction on the embankment above in this 1962 view looking northeast from Parkside and Lake as an inbound 4000-series train approaches the old Central station. Note that a section of the embankment has been removed for the construction of the Parkside entrance to the new facility. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the IRM Collection, courtesy of Peter Vesic) |
The new Central station is under construction on the embankment above in this 1962 view looking northeast from Parkside and Lake as an inbound 4000-series train approaches the old Central station. Note that a section of the embankment has been removed for the construction of the Parkside entrance to the new facility. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the IRM Collection, courtesy of Peter Vesic) |
Expenditure of more than $3,500,000 is also contemplated for construction of a terminal yard, sub-station and shops in an area west of Harlem Avenue to be filled- in between the permanent crib wall and the North Western embankment.
Relocating Chicago Transit Authority's tracks introduces a concept new to local transit operations in Chicago. Never before have rapid transit trains shared a right-of- way with other than electrically operated passenger carriers. The influence of this modern trend is further emphasized in the construction features of the five new stations which serve the relocated section of the route.
Attractive Stations of Modern Design
Four of the five stations, Central-Parkside, Austin-Mason, Oak Park-Euclid, and Marion-Harlem have double en trances. The fifth, Ridgeland, is a single end station. There are escalators at Central, Austin and Oak Park.
Each station is identified by color, as follows: Central Parkside, yellow; Austin-Mason, grey; Ridgeland, light blue; Oak Park-Euclid, peach; Marion-Harlem, green. Island-type platforms at each of the stations are long enough to accommodate eight-car trains.
Construction of the station buildings, which are slightly above street-level, as well as the platforms, included the widening of the Harlem Avenue viaduct and raising the height of the retaining wall between Harlem Avenue and Marion Street. Integrated with the south wall of the North Western embankment, the new station buildings incorporate many design features.
Large picture windows enhance a light and bright interior. External walls are of ceramic glazed brick in the color code for the respective station. This color is repeated in porcelain enamel panels of each station front, in the glazed ceramic tile of the interior walls, and in the porcelain enamel panels of the agents' booths.
Electric signs over the entrance of each station building are to identify the station and display the travel time between the station and Chicago's Loop.
Passenger control facilities include agent-controlled, illuminated fare indicator turnstiles, coin-operated turn stiles, and electrically-operated, remotely-controlled exit turnstiles.
Escalators at Central, Austin and Oak Park
The escalators at Central, Austin and Oak Park are of the reversible, dual operation type. Normally in rush hours the escalators will operate in the direction of the prevailing flow of traffic, but in the off-peak hours the escalators will operate automatically.
When on automatic operation, the escalator is activated by treadle steps, at the top and at the bottom. Once an escalator has been set in motion by a passenger it will operate in the proper direction until the passenger has alighted. Flashing signs warn patrons not to board an escalator operating in the wrong direction. Both escalators and stairs have glass-walled shelters at the platform level.
In the metal platform canopies, which extend over the roofs of cars at train stops protecting boarding and alighting passengers from rain, sleet and snow, the station color code is repeated. Translucent fiberglass panels are interspersed with the metal panels of the canopies.
Platforms and stations are illuminated by fluorescent luminaires.
At the platforms, the lights are turned off and on automatically by photo-electric cells. Lighting in the stations is controlled by the agents.
Facilitating supervision of operations are a line supervisory and public address system, installed at Central-Parkside, Austin-Mason and Harlem-Marion stations. These facilities, connected with CTA's Operations Control Center in the Merchandise Mart, signal the arrival and departure of trains and enable Operations Control to give orders to train crews or instructions to passengers over the public address system.
Elevation Long Advocated
Elevation of the Lake Street route through the Austin and Oak Park communities was long advocated by civic leaders, public officials and business groups. Because of the highly desirable public benefits to be achieved in safer and improved street traffic flow, and in better transit service, the public agencies concerned jointly agreed to prorate the construction and material cost of shifting the street-level rapid transit operation to the south side of the North Western's elevated right-of-way.
The cost was shared as follows: the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the State of Illinois, $1,000,000; County of Cook, $1,000,000; Oak Park, $800,000; the City of Chicago and the CTA, $600,000 each. The Bureau of Public Road's share was specifically limited to elevation and its approaches at Harlem Avenue, an arterial high way.
In addition to contributing its share of the project cost, CTA is paying the North Western a rental fee of $168,800 per year for the use of space for its two tracks and platforms.
Construction of the project required intricate and complex staging because both CTA and North Western train operations had to be maintained during the construction period.
To make way for the CTA, the North Western realigned its two northernmost tracks, constructed and signaled a new third track, and constructed a new island platform for its riders at Marion Street. This work was completed in October, 1961, when the south side of its right-of-way was released for the elevation project.
Construction Began Mid-Year1961
Preliminary construction work on the portion of the work to be performed by CTA for the project sponsors began in mid-year 1961 when eastbound CTA trains began operating on a temporary trestle and tracks immediately west of Laramie Avenue while work progressed at that point on a permanent structure connecting the elevated section of the Lake Street route with the North Western right-of-way. CTA began track work October 23, 1961.
General Contractor on the project was the M. A. Lombard & Son Company, of Alsip. CTA forces per formed the track work for the project sponsors. Electrical distribution and communications systems were installed by Contracting and Materials Company of Evanston.
Staging of the project was as follows: (1) realignment of the two northernmost North Western tracks, construction of a third track, signaling and a new platform at Marion Street; (2) relocation of a water main from the North Western right-of-way to South Boulevard; (3) construction of a temporary trestle to maintain CTA service; (4) realignment of the southernmost North Western tracks for CTA use, construction of CTA train platforms, and construction of station buildings; (5) construction of structure permanently connecting CTA's elevated right-of- way with the North Western right-of-way; (6) connection of CTA's elevated tracks with its new tracks on the North Western embankment; (7) completion of permanent station facilities after CTA ground-level tracks are removed.
PLEASE NOTE:
Inasmuch as the new stations are approximately at street-level, their completion had to wait until CTA's tracks at street-grade were removed, resulting unavoidably, in some inconvenience to our patrons. For their understanding and forbearance CTA is deeply appreciative.
This is an era of great progress in mass transportation in the Chicago area.
In less than a quarter of a century, Chicago has built its first subway system, consolidated its surface and rapid transit operations, pioneered the co-ordination of rail rapid transit with multi-lane expressways, and extensively modernized transit equipment facilities and services.
During this period of intensive improvements in transit, unmatched in the history of Chicago, a total of $28 1,000,- 000 has been spent or obligated for improvements. This includes approximately $175,000,000 in revenues of Chicago Transit Authority since its inception 19 years ago, $102,600,000 (including federal aid for subways) spent by the City of Chicago, and $3,400,000 provided principally by other local public agencies.
Latest of these substantial improvements is elevation of the street-level section of the Lake Street rapid transit route, a $4,000,000 project jointly financed by the City of Chicago, the Village of Oak Park, Cook County, the State of Illinois and the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, and the Chicago Transit Authority.
The Lake Street elevation, like its predecessor, the Congress route in the median of the Congress Express way, is not only of general benefit to the entire metropolitan area but is of special benefit to Chicago's West Side and the western suburbs.
Important Public Benefits
In operation as of Sunday, October 28, 1962, the Lake Street elevation project is outstanding in important respects.
It establishes a precedent and a pattern for public agency co-operation in mass transportation projects in the future when widespread public benefits, including improvement in street traffic flow, may be obtained.
It eliminates 22 grade crossings in the two and a half mile stretch between Laramie Avenue, Chicago, and Harlem Avenue, Oak Park, where rapid transit trains have been operating at street-level since 1901.
Fourteen of the grade crossings were in Oak Park- at Harlem, Marion, Home, Clinton, Kenilworth, Oak Park, Euclid, East, Scoville, Elmwood (pedestrian crossing), Ridgeland, Harvey, Lombard and Humphrey; and eight were in Chicago-at Austin, Mayfield, Menard, Waller, Parkside, Central, Pine and Long.
Now the heavy volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic can move through those intersections unimpeded by rapid transit operations. Formerly as many as 200,000 transit riders, pedestrians, and motorists were subjected to hazards and delays each weekday.
Another worthwhile advantage is that downtown Chicago is brought minutes closer for those riders who travel between the Loop and Chicago's West Side, Oak Park, and adjacent suburbs.
More Improvements Planned
Important additional improvements for the Lake Street route are scheduled for the immediate future. Foremost from the riders' point of view undoubtedly is the purchase of "New Look" rapid transit cars of the latest design, featuring the most recent advances in rider comfort and high performance speed.
To finance the purchase of this equipment, replacing the cars now in use, Chicago Transit Authority has contracted to borrow $7,500,000 from the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency to which it will add $7,500,000 or more of its own funds. Specifications for bids on these new cars are now being prepared, and, in anticipation of their delivery, the elevated track and structure between Laramie Avenue and the Loop is being renovated.
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Trolley Dodger:
This photo by the late William C. Hoffman was taken on October 28, 1962 at the Central Avenue station on the Lake Street “L”, and shows how the transition was made from the ground level operation to the new alignment on the C&NW embankment. Unlike the situation in 1958, when the new Congress rapid transit line and the old Garfield Park “L” both ran on the same day, that was not possible here, due to the tight clearances at the station entrances. The new entrances could not be finished until the old line was torn out. So on October 28, 1962, which was a Sunday, the ceremonies dedicating the new 2.5 mile “L” realignment were held in the morning, and then, until 6 pm, trains only ran as far as Laramie Avenue, where the steel “L” structure ended. While workers put wooden platforms over the old tracks, riders west of Laramie had to take shuttle buses on Lake Street, as the signs here indicate. Passengers still had to enter via the old station entrances for a time.
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LATER LAWSUIT....
The railroad owns a 2.8-mile right-of-way that it has leased to the Chicago Transit Authority for almost 50 years. When the lease became too costly, the CTA sought to condemn a perpetual easement. The district court enjoined the condemnation as preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, 49 U.S.C. 10501(b). The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The railroad and its right-of-way fall under the Act; the proposed state condemnation would be a regulation of railroad transportation preempted by the Act. The court employed an "as applied" analysis and concluded that the condemnation would prevent or unreasonably interfere with rail transportation by changing the relationship between the parties. Under the proposed easement, the CTA's rights would not be subject to termination for any reason. The railroad would lose property rights to reclaim the property if the CTA ceases passenger transportation operations on the Right of Way or violates any term of the lease and to oust the CTA from the Right of Way if the CTA fails to meet its lease obligations.
Union Pacific Railroad Company v Chicago Transit Authority
Case No. 09-2147 (C.A. 7, Jul. 25, 2011)
No Condemnation of CTA's Leased Railroad
By JOE CELENTINO
Courthouse News Service
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
CHICAGO (CN) - Federal law pre-empts the Chicago Transit Authority's attempts to condemn rail owned by Union Pacific Railroad, the 7th Circuit ruled.
CTA has operated Green Line L trains on 2.8 miles of track leased from the Union Pacific Railroad since 1962. The track runs east to west from Laramie Avenue in Chicago to Harlem Avenue in Oak Park.
The lease gives CTA right-of-way for two of the five tracks on the stretch, which it can use only for passenger transportation and must maintain in good condition. CTA must also reimburse Union Pacific for 40 percent of regular maintenance, since the 5-foot separation between the tracks forces railroad to modify its inspection and maintenance procedures. As long as CTA upholds its obligations under the lease, it retains right-of-way in perpetuity.
Every 10 years, CTA and Union Pacific determine a monthly rent for the next 10-year period based on a pre-set formula specified in the lease. From 1992-2002, the monthly rent was about $25,000. When the parties met to negotiate the 2002-2012 lease terms, the formula mandated an increase to $90,000.
In July 2006, CTA offered Union Pacific about $7.5 million for a "perpetual easement" on the land, threatening to condemn the property if the offer was not accepted. After Union Pacific declined, CTA began condemnation proceedings with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Union Pacific sought an injunction, arguing the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, which gives the federal Surface Transportation Board authority to regulate railroad transportation, pre-empts state or local action and therefore the condemnation.
U.S. District Judge Robert Down Jr. had ruled in favor of Union Pacific, finding that condemnation is pre-empted because it qualifies as "regulation" under the act.
CTA appealed and the 7th Circuit affirmed Monday.
"Here, there is no dispute that Union Pacific and its 2.8-mile right of way fall under the act," Judge Daniel Manion wrote for a three-judge panel. "Instead, the question at issue is whether the proposed state condemnation establishing a perpetual easement over the right of way is a regulation of railroad transportation preempted by the act."
"If the CTA were not already using the right of way, there is no question that the condemnation would be preempted by federal law because it would have a significant impact on railroad transportation by preventing Union Pacific from using the property for railroad transportation and by unreasonably interfering with existing transportation on the neighboring tracks," Manion added.
CTA argued that the condemnation would not change the status quo of activity on the railway and would not prevent or unreasonably interfere with Union Pacific's operations because its desired perpetual easement is coextensive with the current terms of the lease.
The three-judge panel rejected this theory.
"The CTA ... is asking us to expand the meaning of 'no unreasonable interference' to a case where the use of property has a significant impact on railroad transportation but is the same before and after a condemnation," Manion wrote. "We decline to do so in this case. Even though there may be no change in the state of railroad operations on the Right of Way, the condemnation is preempted by federal law because it is a regulation, and not a contract or other agreement that has the effect of preventing and unreasonable interfering with railroad transportation."
Union Pacific's property interest in the land was not limited to the monthly lease value, the court found.
"The right to reclaim the property is valuable despite not knowing whether the CTA will willingly or unwillingly vacating the property in the foreseeable future," the ruling states.
"The CTA can always ask Union Pacific to enter into a new lease arrangement for the Right of Way with financial terms more acceptable to the CTA, but an attempt to obtain such an arrangement by regulation is preempted by federal law," Manion concluded.
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April 1964 Transit News:
LAKE "L" Realignment Project Underway
CTA'S "NEW LOOK" air-conditioned rapid transit cars soon to go in service on the Lake rapid transit route will glide swiftly and smoothly all the way between Harlem avenue and the Loop over new or rehabilitated right-of-way.
Realignment of the track and structure is now underway between Clinton street and Laramie and will be completed before all of the new cars are delivered by Pullman-Standard, the manufacturer.
In the stretch between Laramie avenue and Harlem avenue, where the ground-level section of the route was shifted to the Chicago and Northwestern embankment, the right-of-way is new.
First of the new cars are expected to go into service in May or June, and the remainder as fast as cars are delivered and processed.
The work of structure realignment has been completed westward as far as Paulina street and will be on a continuous schedule until the entire section to Laramie avenue has been realigned.
The project encompasses the renewal of rail and deck, which includes replacement of ties and guard rail at certain locations, and structural leveling where supporting columns have settled irregularly and caused slight deviations in the riding surface of the rails. The work of leveling the structure was initiated in 1963.
As of December 1, 1963, the number of columns raised was 183 between Halsted street and Paulina street. The crews are now working west from Paulina.
The first step in the leveling procedure is to survey and record the existing profile of the structure and from this compute the necessary raise for each supporting column to realign them to the indicated height. When this is determined the column base is exposed to the top of the concrete footing, checked for condition and if deteriorated, marked for replacement. Anchor bolts are adjusted to accommodate the proposed raise and movable jacking rigs are used to raise the structure, two bents at a time, to the required level. Shim plate s are then placed under the steel column base to bring it up to the required elevation. When this is accomplished, the shim plates are welded together and anchor bolts tightened to secure the supporting column.
The work of leveling the structure, as well as renewing the deck and replacing tie s where required is done without service delays. All the work is being done by Track and Structure Department personnel. The method for accomplishing the realignment was developed by H. T. Luebeck, assistant superintendent of track.
Preliminary to the pre sent phase of the realignment project, new rail was laid from Clinton street to Rockwell street and deck work had been completed west to Paulina street during 1962 and 1963.
Objective of the program is to stop the sway of cars and uneven wear on the head of the rail and provide a smoother ride for passengers.
Pertinent to the general improvement of the Lake street properties is repainting of the "L" structure which is to be completed this year under two contracts awarded by Chicago Transit Board at its March 2 meeting.
The sections of the Lake street structure to be painted are between Halsted and Wood streets, including the Ashland avenue station steel; between Rockwell street and St. Louis avenue, and the bridge over the Pennsylvania and North Western railroads, including the structural steel at the California, Kedzie and Homan stations; and between St. Louis and Kostner avenues, including the steel at Pulaski station.
Cost of the work on the basis of the lowest bids will total $88,475. Contractors are the Atlantic Painting Company of Chicago and the Roseland Painting and Decorating Company of Evergreen Park. The work also includes cleaning and painting a section of the Logan Square "L" structural steel at Western avenue, including the station steel.
Section
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The Lake Street "L" opened in 1893, not long after the initial section of the South Side Elevated. The line originally went from 52nd Avenue (later called Laramie Avenue) on the city's western city limits to Market & Madison on the edge of the central business district. The line would eventually be extended to Forest Park, then shaved back one station to its present terminal at Harlem Avenue. The line, constructed of steel box girders and steel pillars, runs on the public right-of-way over Lake Street for the majority of its length. The line originally ran at grade-level west of Laramie, but in 1962, the tracks were elevated onto the solid-fill embankment of the parallel Chicago & North Western commuter railroad (now Metra - Union Pacific).
In 1993, the Green Line was formed when the Lake Street and Englewood-Jackson Park Lines were through-routed. With both halves of the new line made up of the two oldest sections of the "L", the structure was beginning to show the ravages of time. Early the next year, the Green Line was closed for an extensive renovation project lasting more than 2 years. A great deal of controversy raged during the two year rehab, including debates over station closings, retention of nighttime "owl" service and the date of reopening. On May 12, 1996, the Green Line reopened. Owl service is retained (only to be dropped a year later), but the lines reopened with seven fewer stations: Homan, Halsted, 58th, 61st, Harvard, Racine and University were closed. Jackson Park trains began to terminate at Cottage Grove Avenue (East 63rd) while future of elevated segment east of there to Dorchester remained undecided. On September 27, 1997, the CTA reached a decision on the fate of the Cottage Grove-Dorchster segment of the Green Line: with less then 24 hours of public notice, city workers moved in and dismantled the "L" line.
The Green Line has a larger proportion of handicap accessible stations than any other line (tied with the Orange Line). This occurred during the 1994-96 rehab. Due to the large amount of work done at many stations, federal law required the CTA to make many of the stations ADA compliant during the project.
Conservatory and new Garfield added in 2001. Also, new Pulaski
In late 2002, in conjunction with the Chicago Department of Transportation's reconstruction of Wacker Drive, the elevated structure over the Drive on the Lake Street Line, a block north of the Loop, was replaced. Unlike the all-new span built about the same time for the Brown Line a couple blocks away, the new Lake Street structure had new columns and side supports assembled around the existing elevated structure, which remained in place and in service. The reason a new, complete span wasn't built and then moved into place, as was done for the Brown Line, is because the CTA has just recently spent millions on rehabilitating the trackwork through the area and, understandably, didn't want to see its investment go to waste. Still, the modified structure and new supports moved the columns out of the street and provided the same wider span as the Wells Street counterpart.
Structure at Halsted and Lake was reconstructed in the Summer and Fall of 2004, with the columns relocated from the street to the curb. The sidewalks and curbs were also redone, with the bump outs on Halsted left from when stairs descended down there from the former Halsted station removed.
A park'n'ride lot with 117 parking spaces was added near the Garfield station in late 2004, funded by the federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program and the Illinois Department of Transportation. Amenities of the park'n'ride lot include lighting, canopies to protect customers from the elements, bike racks, landscaping, fencing, and an electronic fare collection system. Standard Parking manages the parking facility for the CTA . For added convenience, a new entrance was built leading directly from the parking lot into the station. The Chicago Transit Authority broke ground on the new park'n'ride lot on Monday, October 6, 2003. A ribbon-cutting was held for the new lot at 10am September 30, 2004. It opened for passenger use the following day, at 4am, Friday, October 1.
On March 12, 2008, the Chicago Transit Board today approved a range of service enhancements for the West Side. Ridership on West Side bus and rail routes has grown since service improvements were introduced in 2006. In October 2007, West Side bus ridership was up 5.5 percent, compared to a 5 percent increase on non-West Side routes. October rail ridership on the West Side increased by 5.7 percent compared to a decrease of 2.4 percent outside of the West Side/Suburban area.
Today's board action extends the experimental period for new and improved routing first introduced to customers in 2006. The initial experiment included the launch of CTA's eighth rail line, the Pink Line, increased frequency of the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line, and improvements to 13 bus routes. Several adjustments will be made to service to improve efficiency during the next experimental phase based on customer feedback and ridership trends.
Additional service is being added to Green Line during the peak rush period.
On April 27, service will be added to the Forest Park and O'Hare branches of the Blue Line. But Blue Line service on the 54th/Cermak branch, which operates during rush hour only, will be eliminated due to low ridership. It serves the fewest customers per rail car of any line. Since the introduction of the Pink Line, which operates on the same branch, customers have demonstrated a consistent preference for Pink Line service. Key destinations along the 54th/Cermak branch such as the UIC campus will still be served by the Pink Line, Forest Park Blue Line, #7 Harrison and #38 Ogden/Taylor.
May 2010: There is some shoring under the Green Line structure at Lake and Ogden, a few blocks east of Ashland/Lake station. It's a CDOT project; they are removing columns to clear the intersection and facilitate traffic flow. The project will continue until October 2010 and will continue into next year.
Green Line West Track Renewal Project in Oak Park, Austin
On December 9, 2015, the Chicago Transit Board approved a $13 million contract for the Green Line West Track Renewal Project, a track improvement project on the Lake branch of the Green Line. The Green Line West Track Renewal Project upgraded track infrastructure between the Laramie and Harlem/Lake stations to provide Green Line riders smoother and more reliable commutes and prevent imminent slow zones from developing as infrastructure ages.
The project was one of several track renewal initiatives the CTA undertook beginning in 2013 and in the years following to provide smoother and more reliable commutes for train riders across the city, including a $20 million track modernization investment on the south Green Line that was completed in 2013 ahead of the full reconstruction of the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line, as well as a track renewal of the Ravenswood-Loop Connector portion of Brown and Purple lines between Armitage and the Mart.
The construction scope for the $27.5 million track renewal project included new tie plates and fasteners, transposing of running rails at select curves, other related rail work, and ballast replacement and surfacing work. Work occurred on weekends and during nights while trains were not in operation.
CTA officials said the project "is a proactive effort to avoid the development of future slow zones in the area." The most recent major track renewal along this stretch of the Green Line occurred in the 1980s; at the time of the project, more than 75 percent of the rail ties were approaching or had exceeded their useful life, officials said.
The construction contact for the Green Line West Track Renewal Project was awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure Co., which submitted the lowest bid for the project.
Construction began in late March 2016. The work was performed by instituting "linecuts" at the end of the Green Line -- truncating rail service and substituting bus shuttles to give the contractor free access to the tracks and right-of-way. Over the course of seven weekends, Green Line trains terminated at Laramie, operating between there and the two 63rd Street terminals, and did not serve the Central, Austin, Ridgeland, Oak Park or Harlem/Lake stations. CTA operated free shuttle buses that served the affected stations. The first linecut took place over the weekend of April 1-4, 2016, from 10pm Friday to 4am Monday. The next linecut was April 15-18, with the remaining work to be completed over the five following consecutive weekends through May 20-23.
Rehabilitation and Replacement of Lake Street Bridge Over Chicago River
Since the mid-2000s, the Chicago Department of Transportation has been performing heavy maintenance on the Lake Street bridge over the Chicago River (opened in 1916, see above), replacing and rehabilitating parts to keep the aging bridge in a good state of repair until it can be replaced. While much of this work occurred overnight when trains weren't running, some weekends required linecuts and bus shuttles to allow work to be performed with no trains running over the bridge.
The City of Chicago’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the years 2019 to 2023, a five-year schedule of infrastructure investment that the City plans to make for continued support of existing infrastructure and new development. 2019’s CIP Bridge Improvements Program invests over $90 million in 2019 and a total of $456 million through 2023. There are several notable large-scale bridge projects the City has under construction and planned in this CIP, including Lake Street Bridge (replacement), $73 million, 2024 completion (the bridge will be erected offsite and then shipped by barge to Lake St. for installation). This follows the City's reconstruction of the Wells Street Bridge over the Chicago River in 2013.
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/obm/supp_info/CIP_Archive/2019-2023CIPBook.pdf
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TIF Proposed for a Pair of CTA Renovation Projects in the Loop
City of Chicago Press Release
September 9, 2020
A pair of Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) infrastructure improvements in the Loop would be assisted with up to $9.1 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) under a proposal introduced today to City Council by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot.
The rehabilitation of the CTA elevated tracks at the east and west approach positions to the Lake Street Bridge over the Chicago River would be supported with $7 million in TIF financing. The work would include new rails, switch points, signal systems, and related elements. The project would be coordinated with the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) planned replacement of the movable bridge, which carries the CTA’s Pink and Green lines. The balance of the $8.2 million renewal project would be funded by the CTA. The bridge was originally constructed in 1916 and last renovated in 1995.
Improvements to the Monroe Street subway between Arcade and Marble places would be financed entirely with $2.1 million in TIF funds. The work would include the replacement of street-level vent grates, updating the emergency lighting system, and the addition of new LED tunnel lighting. The station serves approximately 2.3 million Blue Line riders annually.
Work on both projects is expected to be completed in 2022.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/provdrs/tif/news/2020/september/tif-proposed-for-a-pair-of-cta-renovation-projects-in-the-loop.html
[TIF PASSED???]
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Lake Street Bridge To Get Major Overhaul In 2024
The project is estimated to take two years and will include staged closures of roads and public transit in the Loop.
By Melody Mercado
Block Club Chicago
7:10 AM CDT on Aug 14, 2023
DOWNTOWN — The historical Lake Street Bridge will be getting a much-needed overhaul next year.
Build in 1916, the bridge is one of three double-decker bascule bridges in the Loop, serving cars, pedestrians and elevated trains. The bridge has undergone several repairs in the last five years, but now it’s time for a full rehab, officials said.
“The bridge is over 100 years old, so it needs some loving,” said Luis Benitez, chief bridge engineer for the city.
The project will include a complete replacement of the bridge over the Chicago River and rehabilitation of its mechanical/electrical systems, substructure and the bridge houses, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
CDOT is currently responsible for more than 300 bridge and viaduct structures, including 37 operable movable bridges along the Chicago and Calumet Rivers. All of these bridges are maintained by the department through its Capital Bridge and Bridge Maintenance Programs.
Bidding for contractors will begin in the next few months, Benitez said. Once a contractor is selected, a defined timeline will be developed, officials said.
Officials estimate the work will begin in 2024 and take about two years, which will include an 18-month closure along Lake Street from Canal Street to Wacker Drive. Pedestrians will be rerouted to cross the river along Randolph Street during that time. Cars will be rerouted to cross the river going east along Washington Street and west along Madison Street.
About six months into the road closure, the CTA line above the bridge will be shut down for two 12-day increments to allow for work on the eastbound and westbound rails. This will impact travel on the Green and Pink Line trains.
A shuttle will be provided during this time to take people from the Clinton Station to the Clark/Lake Station. Additionally, the CTA 125 bus route will detour east on Washington Street and north on Wacker Drive, while the stop at Canal and Randolph will be closed during the 18-month road closure.
The last comparable bridge project of this size was the Wells Street Bridge reconstruction project, which was completed in 2013.
“The biggest parts are over the water and it’s got the rail above, and that adds a lot of complexity. And we still have to maintain access to the waterway. Any boat that comes down needs to be able to get through,” said Moira Kent, project manager with CDOT.
The Lake Street Bridge project has been about two and a half years in the making, requiring the coordination between several city, state and federal agencies to determine what needed a complete replacement and what could be rehabilitated.
“It’s been taken care of carefully for 107 years … now it’s at the time when its increased life span is a major rehab. One of the neat things will be the historic aspect and being able to restore it,” said Mike Eichten, vice president of AECOM, the consulting firm on the project.
When finished, Eichten said the bridge will include features that existed in the 1960s, such as designs atop the bridge houses, that have since disappeared.
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ROW@Loomis-Lake01.jpg (??k) Text August 13, 20010. Note streetcar rail in street and cobblestones piled on the left. (Photo by Charles Arndt) |
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ROW@Loomis-Lake02.jpg (??k) Text August 13, 20010. Column for new structure clear-spanning Ogden. (Photo by Charles Arndt) |
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cta5023.jpg (203k) A 4-car Pink Line train passes through Jefferson Interlocking on the Lake Street elevated as it approaches Clinton station on its way to the Loop on July 6, 2016. (Photo by Graham Garfield) |
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