Bon appétit, at Ogilvie Transportation Center
Certainly the fare at the new Chicago French Market is très bien but it's also supposed to rake in beaucoup bucks.
The French Market opened Dec. 3 at Metra Market, a previously underused section of the Ogilvie Transportation Center. It's being revamped as part of a collaboration with Metra and private developers.
When I checked it out Friday, the place was packed with shoppers who seemed glad to get a break from the gloomy weather to take in the stalls of flowers, pastries, coffee and wine. Fortunately for me, the mime who showed up for opening day was absent, although I hear his silent dramatization of the never-ending funding crises facing public transit was pretty good.
Metra Market is about 100,000 square feet of space that includes a drugstore and will feature a cafe soon. Officials estimate it will generate between $38 million and $40 million for Metra in the next 25 years.
"Now if we could convince Amtrak to do the same for Union Station," Executive Director Phil Pagano said Friday.
Readers check in
• Dave Bauserman of Green Oaks has some advice for towns with red-light cameras. He writes, "I 'roll through' virtually every right-turn-on-red situation I encounter. Why? Because I have to move beyond the white stop line in order to see beyond the cars in the straight-through lanes in order to see oncoming traffic and avoid getting broadsided. Why can't we initiate a regulation that stipulates that any city installing a red-light camera must either move a right-turn-lane stop line forward, or a through-traffic white line back to allow unencumbered vision for oncoming traffic? I realize this would reduce income sources for a given city, but it may also save a life."
Flotsam and jetsam
• Tollways of comfort and joy. After five years of construction, you're going to get a free something. The Illinois tollway is treating customers this week as its Congestion Relief construction program wraps up. Customer appreciation events include complementary refreshments plus samples and coupons from vendors. Events are: 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Monday at the O'Hare Oasis; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at the Belvidere Oasis; 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Des Plaines Oasis; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lake Forest Oasis; 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the DeKalb Oasis; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Hinsdale Oasis; and 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday at the Lincoln Oasis.
• Officials from different spheres are pushing Congress to get moving on transportation and FAA funding bills. Both pieces of legislation are stalled. Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino Thursday spoke to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, urging Congress to pass new Federal Aviation Administration authorization that includes a provision to raise fees on tickets from $4.50 to $7.50, which is opposed by airlines. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, the region's representative on the Transportation Committee, holds a news conference along with leaders from Metra, the CTA and the RTA to lobby for passage of a six-year transportation funding bill. The two pieces of legislation are key to creating jobs, supporters say.
• It looks like Pace bus Route 557, "The Hotline," which travels from the Barrington Metra station to local companies such as Siemens and SBC, will be alive in 2010. The route is partially funded by local corporations but one is pulling out. Officials said Siemens has committed to make up the difference through 2010.
Pace also is introducing new express buses. They include Route 655 Bolingbrook to Schaumburg and Route 755 Plainfield to the University of Illinois at Chicago. Route 655 operates during weekday rush hour with stops at Downers Grove, Addison and Itasca.
And, the transit agency is expanding the Call-n-Ride program to Round Lake. It's a pickup ride program offered within certain times and geographic area. Reservations are required.
For more information, visit the Web sitePpacebus.com.
Incoming
• A town-hall meeting to discuss recent paratransit changes will be held from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Monday at Access Living, 115 W. Chicago, Chicago. Officials from Pace and the RTA will take questions.
• Three Kennedy Expressway ramps have reopened after weeks of reconstruction. They are entrance ramps from Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard to the outbound Kennedy and Madison Street to the inbound Kennedy.
• You can now register for the annual Bike the Drive event May 30 along Lake Shore Drive. Sign up by Dec. 24, and you'll save $7 on a registration package. The 15-mile bike ride raises money for the Active Transportation Alliance and gives two-wheelers a chance to cycle LSD sans cars. To register, check out the Web site bikethedrive.org.