The Transit Future campaign first unveiled an ambitious proposal to update and improve the city's transit system just over a year ago, and now the campaign has begun exploring some of these suggestions in depth. One of the suggestions the campaign offers is that the CTA create a connection between the Brown and Blue lines. Spearheaded by the Active Transportation Alliance and Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Transit Future campaign has offered some lofty proposals for the CTA, but the Brown and Blue line connection might be one of the most practical suggestions yet. As the system works today, if one wanted to travel from Avondale, Logan Square or Wicker Park to the lakefront neighborhoods, they would have to take the 'L' all the way downtown and then back up—spending an hour or more on the train just to travel three to five miles east. Of course, there's always the bus, but bus bunching and congestion can also slow down the trip to a snail's pace. However, Transit Future says that beyond time savings, there would be some big economic gains for building this connector.
In addition to making it easier for residents from many different neighborhoods to get around, the campaign says that this connection would also be a huge benefit to Metra commuters coming in from the suburbs. The connector would also make it much easier for North Siders to get to O'Hare as residents off the Brown and Red lines would be able to transfer at Kimball to head to the airport. The plan makes a lot of sense and would likely be a welcomed addition to the transit system for residents throughout the greater north side area of the city.
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·Brown Line Extension [Transit Future]
·Many benefits in linking Brown Line to Blue [Active Transportation Alliance]
·What If Chicago Had a Rail Line Connecting Its Two Airports? [Curbed Chicago]
·Is This What The Future of Chicago's Public Transit Looks Like? [Curbed Chicago]
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