SoxFan928
06-08-2005, 01:13 AM
Friends and family have been asking me a lot about the possibility of a 35th Street stop on the Metra system within reasonable proximity of the Cell. Now, I am a serious railroad fan in addition to being a White Sox fan, and realizing that a lot of you probably aren't big railroad people, I'm going to cut this down to a bite size chunk. I decided my fellow WSIers are entitled to know too.
According to a few sources of mine who are well informed on Metra topics, the main reason that the 35th St. stop on the Rock Island District won't be put in for a considerable while is because the right of way and track that is currently there is being replaced. That track would be required for a 35th St. stop. They aren't seriously planning to start any construction until 2007, which is when the track replacement will be complete. So until the new tracks have been put down, there simply isn't anywhere to put it.
In Metra's 2005 budget (http://metrarail.com/Budget/Metra_2005_Program_Budget.pdf), a grand total of $1 million is designated for ALL development regarding that station - research, property, and construction being three of the key factors in spending that money.
In the early 1990s, agency engineers studied the structural reliability and safety of 846 bridges and identified 91 that needed to be upgraded. Thirty-five of these bridges are completed and 24 are currently underway as engineers manage the third year of a five-year, $100 million bridge rehabilitation project along Metra’s Rock Island District. The largest structure project currently underway is the replacement of 24 bridges on the Rock Island District Line.
What does that mean? It means that the bridge over 35th St. that the RI runs over is in need of replacement. Metra's plan is to realign the Rock Island district main onto the new bridges which are currently standing and are graded for the new tracks. However, due to the amount of traffic that uses that bridge, it will take a good deal of time to complete that realignment, hence that 2007 estimate.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/tile.ashx?t=4&s=8&x=8954&y=92624&z=16
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/tile.ashx?t=4&s=8&x=8954&y=92623&z=16
(photos from Microsoft Terraserver)
This is a view of 35th Street and where the Rock Island crosses. Where the graded ballast is (but no tracks) is where the tracks will be in 2007. As for the current tracks, I'm not sure what Metra plans to do with them.
I am not 100% sure of these facts as they are not official statistics, but as I said, they are from sources who are well informed on Metra issues.
According to a few sources of mine who are well informed on Metra topics, the main reason that the 35th St. stop on the Rock Island District won't be put in for a considerable while is because the right of way and track that is currently there is being replaced. That track would be required for a 35th St. stop. They aren't seriously planning to start any construction until 2007, which is when the track replacement will be complete. So until the new tracks have been put down, there simply isn't anywhere to put it.
In Metra's 2005 budget (http://metrarail.com/Budget/Metra_2005_Program_Budget.pdf), a grand total of $1 million is designated for ALL development regarding that station - research, property, and construction being three of the key factors in spending that money.
In the early 1990s, agency engineers studied the structural reliability and safety of 846 bridges and identified 91 that needed to be upgraded. Thirty-five of these bridges are completed and 24 are currently underway as engineers manage the third year of a five-year, $100 million bridge rehabilitation project along Metra’s Rock Island District. The largest structure project currently underway is the replacement of 24 bridges on the Rock Island District Line.
What does that mean? It means that the bridge over 35th St. that the RI runs over is in need of replacement. Metra's plan is to realign the Rock Island district main onto the new bridges which are currently standing and are graded for the new tracks. However, due to the amount of traffic that uses that bridge, it will take a good deal of time to complete that realignment, hence that 2007 estimate.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/tile.ashx?t=4&s=8&x=8954&y=92624&z=16
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/tile.ashx?t=4&s=8&x=8954&y=92623&z=16
(photos from Microsoft Terraserver)
This is a view of 35th Street and where the Rock Island crosses. Where the graded ballast is (but no tracks) is where the tracks will be in 2007. As for the current tracks, I'm not sure what Metra plans to do with them.
I am not 100% sure of these facts as they are not official statistics, but as I said, they are from sources who are well informed on Metra issues.