Big court victory for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport expansion.

Big court victory for O’Hare expansion

DuPage County judge says Chicago can go ahead with cemetery condemnation.

December 19, 2009

By MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation Reporter / mwisniewski@suntimes.com

In a major victory for the city of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport expansion plans, a DuPage County judge ruled Friday that the city can proceed with condemnation proceedings to acquire St. Johannes Cemetery, which stands in the way of the completion of a new runway.

St. John’s United Church of Christ in Bensenville — which owns the 1,100-grave burial ground — had fought the acquisition, arguing it would cause great grief for families of those buried there. Joseph Karaganis, an attorney for the church, said he plans to challenge the court ruling.

The cemetery issue is the last major obstacle to the city’s expansion of O’Hare.

Last month, the village of Bensenville settled with the city, getting $16 million and agreeing to allow the demolition of over 500 abandoned homes and businesses….

Check out the full Chicago Sun Times article by clicking HERE!

 A DuPage County judge ruled today that the city of Chicago can proceed with condemnation proceedings to acquire St. Johannes Cemetery in order to expand O’Hare airport.
 (Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

The new Apple store to play a key role in the Clybourn Red Line station!

Doors will open on the right at the Apple stop

By: Thomas A. Corfman October 26, 2009

The North and Clybourn station on the CTA’s Red Line may become the iStop.

In exchange for Apple Inc. spending more than $4 million to renovate the scruffy station, the Chicago Transit Authority gave the maker of MacBooks and iPhones first dibs on naming rights, if the agency decides to go that route. It’s apparently the first such deal ever by the cash-strapped CTA. Apple also gets the exclusive right to buy all the ad space in the station, at 1555 N. Clybourn Avenue.

The CTA has been considering naming-rights agreements since at least 2005, but the idea is seemingly getting another look as President Richard Rodriguez scrambles to avoid hiking fares and cutting services to cover next year’s projected budget deficit of $178 million. A CTA spokeswoman did not respond to questions.

Cities nationwide are increasingly looking at corporate sponsorships to ease budget woes. The risk to the CTA is that slapping corporate logos on stations could confuse riders and cheapen the city’s image, and make only a small dent in the massive financial problems….

Check out the full Crain’s Chicago Business article by clicking HERE!  From driving by the construction zone, you can see the general design of the store, which is different from the picture below.  So far, I like where they’re going with it but I hope they keep it very light, open, and covered in glass.

Hopefully VERY preliminary plans...

Chicago Tribune article states the facts about the CTA’s rail ridership levels.

According to this article from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Transit Authority’s 144 train stations and eight train lines have seen quite the variety in this year’s ridership numbers compared to the same time last year.  “El” train ridership has climbed 4.3% or 3.3 million riders from January to May 2009, compared to the same five-month period in 2008.

The worst rated subway station is the North/Clybourn Red Line station due to its need for a long awaited overhaul and mold that grows on the walls and ceilings.  The best rated train station is the brand spankin’ new Howard Red/Purple/Yellow Line station due to its bright, airy design, new escalators, elevators and a new entrance near a commuter parking garage making it a major transportation center.

The article is pretty interactive and fun to look at because you can check out the ridership numbers other statistics about every train station from every train line.  The South Loop, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and River West neighborhoods have seen a dramatic rise in rail ridership compared to the same time in 2008.  Check the article out and a big thank to the Chicago Tribune.

A new parking garage…a new GREEN parking garage in River North.

Located at 60 W. Kinzie Street, the Greenway Self Park Garage is currently under construction in Chicago’s River North neighborhood with a completion date for mid 2009.  Now that I think of it, it’s already mid 2009 so I guess the completion date has been pushed back a bit.  Developed by Friedman Properties, the Greenway Self Park Garage has many exciting green elements including six wind turbines, which will provide electricity for all exterior lighting, even adding excess electricity to the city power grid.  Other green features include a green roof, rain cisterns, a bike room, and six plug-in stations for electric vehicles on the first few floors. 

GreenBeanChicago.com has a lot of information about the Greenway Self Park Garage…check out their site by clicking here.

Close-up of the wind turbines.

Paulina Brown Liners, your prayers are answered!

After months and months of waiting and having to travel to either the Southport or Addison stops to catch the train, the Paulina Brown Line station has opened it’s brand spanking new station today, Friday, April 3rd.  The new station is located at 3410 N. Lincoln Avenue.  The Brown Line capacity expansion cost around $530M and helped to lengthen the station platforms to accommodate longer trains, to make every station accessible for people with disabilities, and to give each station a complete overhaul.  Lets face it, those station looked like they’d cave in at any moment.  Now, I haven’t been to the new station yet, but this is what it’s supposed to look like based on a picture from Paulina’s CTA website.