CTA Yellow Line Station Study to be Presented to City Council April 16
Staff from the City of Evanston's Public Works Department will present to the City Council the study findings for the input of a new intermediate station on the CTA Yellow Line between Ridge and Dodge Avenues in Evanston. The presentation will take place during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 16, 2012 in Council Chambers at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
Final Report here>>>
Conceptual Design Planbook here>>>
The city held three public meetings (June 2011, September 2011 and January 2012) along with conducting two public surveys (June-July 2011 and September to November 2011). Presentations available (includes survey results in presentations) here>>>
Project Vision
In July, 2007, the City of Evanston, in association with the Village of Skokie and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), completed the Skokie Swift North Shore Corridor Travel Market Analysis. In addition to identifying major travel patterns and markets that could support a line extension, the study also evaluated three potential new station locations in south Evanston at Dodge Avenue, Asbury Avenue and Ridge Avenue. Historically, there were stations at each of these locations and other stops during the era of the Niles Center local rapid transit service (1925-1948). With the inception of the "Skokie Swift" demonstration project (from April 1964), and later as a permanent part of the CTA rail transit system (today known as the "Yellow Line"), there were no intermediate stations in order to reduce operating costs.
The study found that depending on location, a new station could expand the total number of work trips served by the Yellow Line by 25 to 45 percent and attract up to 1,000 riders per day, potentially more if the Yellow Line offered direct service to downtown Chicago. However, no single station location was identified as clearly superior to the others based on the criteria. The study recommended that the relative costs of constructing a station at one or more of the locations be evaluated in an engineering feasibility study to provide clearer direction on a preferred station location(s).
Visit http://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/yellow.html for more history on the CTA Yellow Line.
Project Overview
The purpose of this study is to build upon previous studies and examine the potential for a new intermediate station on the CTA Yellow Line in the 1.0-mile section of the line between Ridge and Dodge Avenues in Evanston. This feasibility study will provide recommendations on the optimum location for an intermediate Yellow Line station and ancillary facilities that will serve to enhance the utility of that station, while at the same time respecting the character of the surrounding neighborhood and existing traffic patterns/land uses. The City expects to gain a better understanding of physical design and construction issues with respect to the viability of each location and how potential stations would interrelate with surrounding neighborhoods.
More on the project at www.evanstonyellowlinestation.org.