CDOT has laid out its final report for the Union Station Master Plan Study. It's about the same as the draft version brought before the public back in December, just with more seductive language and purrty pictures. The goals of the study were to: 1. Provide for an estimated 40% increase in trains by 2040. 2. Make the terminal more inviting. 3. Improve intermodal transfer connections. 4. Create a terminal that makes Chicago proud and is a catalyst for growth. The city, in conjunction with station owner Amtrak, hopes to address archaic elements of the terminal like unused baggage and mail platforms, inadequate access, and canal street congestion in the near term. Longer term options include construction of a totally new train station on the 200 block of S Riverside, and fulfillment of Amtrak's dream for an office tower (one version of which is pictured at right). Head to the PDF document for much more. [City of Chicago, previously]
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