Comments on: Ashland Bus Rapid Transit will fall short if it doesn’t extend to Andersonville

By: Dennis McGuire

Dennis McGuire — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:11:00 +0000

Like others have said, one lane of traffic in each direction will be a nightmare on Ashland. Imagine the congestion caused by those going to a Cubs game or shop at Whole Foods on a weekend with a Lincoln Ave. street festival.

That said, anything that promotes faster bus (or rail) service is a plus.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:23:00 +0000

I think that continuing the bus past Irving Park is a terrible idea. It would duplicate the Clark bus, it would travel through a residential area, and it would divide the community in half. A lot of kids have to cross over Ashland to get to school or to go shopping on Clark, and a huge four-lane highway would prevent this. Also, number of bus riders drops off north of Belmont, and Ashland currently provides a nice, uncongested north-south route through Edgewater. The right-turn ban would be a nightmare. Why are we trying to fix something that is not broken?

By: Jack Ferry

Jack Ferry — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:26:00 +0000

Just a total waste of money!

By: Alan Robinson

Alan Robinson — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:19:00 +0000

Jack,

We need a large improvement to all our high traffic bus corridors in Chicago. BRT will be the way to stretch these funds the furthest. After Ashland, each of 79th, Chicago, Cottage Grove, Belmont, etc… will get the improvements they need to speed up. We cannot afford to be distracted by the idea of installing rail along Ashland when that on it’s own will be a 5-10 year project for capacity benefits that are less critical than the speed and reliability benefits both BRT and LRT can provide.

By: Jack Ferry

Jack Ferry — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:37:00 +0000

This really should be a light-rail (streetcar) line. Take a look at all the expansion throughout the country. Ridership expectations far and away exceed all initial projections. BRT is ridiculous when you have the space — Ashland/Broadway, Western, Irving, Peterson and numerous other streets throughout the city should have light-rail.

Anyone been to St.Louis, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, Salt Lake City, Houston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Memphis, Tampa, Oceanside, Little Rock, Tacoma, Jersey City, Baltimore, Sacramento, San Diego,Trenton/Camden, Buffalo, Denver and KENOSHA,Wisconsin.? Yeah, they all have light rail systems.

Additionally, there are at least 75 additional cities that have studies or construction in progress including Washington DC, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Milwaukee and NYC.

And Chicago?

The CTA currently has a love-affair with the BUS and until that changes, with a complete house-cleaning from top to bottom Chicago will be left in the dust!

In this day and age Chicago needs mass transit experts NOT political hanky-panky.

By: Coolebra

Coolebra — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:42:00 +0000

This isn’t BRT. Just sayin’.

It is ART.

In any case, looks like an improvement.

By: steph

steph — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:51:00 +0000

I love the idea of extending the Ashland bus further north and have been complaining about that a lot lately as I can’t get to Belmont and Ashland easily with using public transit. I am not a fan of the idea of losing left turn lanes on Ashland, as those are a big part of the flow on Ashland. If we lose the left turn lanes and are down to one lane of travel, Ashland will be a parking lot, especially during peak hours.

By: mike_thoms

mike_thoms — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:14:00 +0000

None of them really look great. I just can’t imagine Ashland avenue having no left turns on it. Doesn’t that kind of cause a giant problem?

By: Alan Robinson

Alan Robinson — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:11:00 +0000

It would duplicate the Clark St. 22 bus. One could truncate the 22 and let the Ashland bus continue north, but the design is layout presently to prefer connections to Wrigleyville and downtown. Given that the Red line is already an option for these trips, I don’t see why the Ashland bus shouldn’t already be the route continuing north.

By: Scott Sanderson

Scott Sanderson — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:18:00 +0000

I did not like the curbside BRT. The street drawings of this option look like a traffic clogged nightmare. Imagine trying to cross all that traffic as a pedestrian! Center BRT has lower auto traffic capacity, but that is a small price to pay for the enhanced livability of improved transit.

By: Today’s Headlines | Streetsblog Chicago

Today’s Headlines | Streetsblog Chicago — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:59:15 +0000

[...] Ashland BRT Route Should Be Extended to Andersonville (Edgeville) [...]

By: mike_thoms

mike_thoms — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:49:00 +0000

Left turns removed? Seriously? So you wouldn’t be able to make any left turns on Ashland at all? or Western? Seems like Curbside BRT is the best option. One travel lane in each direction on Ashland plus no left turns seems like a nightmare. Curbside keeps two lanes, keeps left turns and keeps parking on one side. Although how do you turn right?

By: Mickey

Mickey — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:11:00 +0000

I have always wondered why the Ashland bus route does not extend all the way north. The Damen bus does not run as often and stops running before 11pm. It would be great to have BRT if it extended to my neighborhood.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:21:00 +0000

Same. Currently the Ashland bus ends at Clark and then anyone traveling north switches to the Clark bus, while the Damen bus leaves Damen at Foster and moves up Ashland. Seems far more sensible to keep both buses moving along their own streets and connecting those neighborhoods, does it not?

By: Ismael Moustafa

Ismael Moustafa — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:33:00 +0000

Should go all the way to Devon. Clark between Ridge and Devon is essentially Ashland.