After an initial proposal a year ago, prompting immediate and strong criticism, the Chicago Transit Authority has completed its environmental assessment of a proposal designed to improve service capacity at the infamous bottleneck of Clark Junction.
"The Chicago Transit Authority today issued a ringing defense of its $570 million plan to boost el capacity on crowded North Side tracks by building a huge bridge where Red, Purple and Brown line tracks now converge at Clark Street," reports Greg Hinz.
After exploring and rejecting several other alternatives, "the CTA said the plan to have northbound Brown Line tracks swing above other tracks is the best feasible alternative and will allow it to carry an additional 7,200 riders an hour through a junction that now is at capacity."
Though the environmental assessment made clear its preference for the flyover, the plan is still unfunded and expected to provoke strong opposition. The proposal requires removing 16 buildings and "plopping what amounts to a highway-like towering structure right in the middle of a residential neighborhood," according to Hinz.
The CTA Red-Purple Bypass project, as it's called, was first announced in April 2014. Architecture critic Blair Kamin produced a pointed critique of the proposal shortly after.
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