RTA plan would extend Blue Line to Yorktown
An I-355 bus line, carpool lanes and Blue Line extension are part of an ambitious proposal being eyed by the Regional Transportation Authority to improve commutes in Cook and DuPage counties.
The price tag for the plan is steep -- $5.5 billion to $8 billion and funding is uncertain. But sticking with the status quo is problematic, RTA planners explained at a meeting Thursday.
"The problem is the existing system does not work for reverse and inter-suburban commutes," RTA corridor planning studies manager William Lenski said.
The Cook/DuPage corridor being studied by the RTA stretches from Cicero Avenue in Chicago to the Kane County line. At the center is the Eisenhower Expressway and Reagan Tollway, while Metra's Milwaukee West Line and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line form the north and south borders, respectively.
The growing area includes 51 communities, more than 1.1 million people and 750,000 jobs. But expressways and public transit haven't kept up, RTA experts said.
Instead, a system that's stayed the same for about four decades handles about 4 million trips a day, causing congestion and limited alternatives for workers. That has a negative impact on the region's economy.
"We're looking to provide better options," Lenski said.
Key preliminary recommendations include:
• Extending the CTA Blue Line west from its terminus in Forest Park to Yorktown Center mall in Lombard.
• A bus line with its own dedicated lane, or bus rapid transit, on I-290 and the Reagan Tollway, in addition to high-occupancy vehicle or carpool lanes for vehicles with more than one occupant.
• Bus rapid transit on the proposed Elgin O'Hare Expressway extension and along Route 83 between Thorndale Avenue and I-290.
• Commuter train service from O'Hare to Midway along existing rail lines in Cook County.
• Bus rapid transit along Cicero Avenue.
• Bus rapid transit along I-355 from Schaumburg through DuPage County.
The public will get a chance to comment on the recommendations at several open houses in March.
Among other things, "we hope to learn how widespread the interest would be in the Blue Line extension," Lenski said. The Blue Line expansion likely would occur along I-290 and I-88.
Most of the money for the project would need to come from federal funds, officials said. If that materializes, it would still take five to 10 years to become reality.
The RTA board won't be voting on the plan until summer but one official representing DuPage County endorsed it.
"I think it will be very helpful to DuPage County," said Pat Durante, an RTA board director. "If you put more fixed-route transit in place, people will use it."