From RedEye: "A 48-year-old Buena Park rider wrote to "Going Public" to ask why there is no bus shelter at his stop," aka The Vortex of Evil. Read about it here.
Worse than that, I've tried numerous time to get someone to listen to the argument that we need a bus shelter at the Montrose/Marine stop. Stand on Lake Shore Drive and feel the wind blowing there with no shelter and you will understand what we mean when there's no relief from the elements.
That whole area is basically a wind tunnel. I weigh about 12lbs, so I've had to hang on to street signs to avoid being blown off of my feet. I would suggest walking to the Montrose & Clarendon shelter (about 15 feet away) in combination with using the CTA Bus Tracker wisely.
More irritating is the north-bound stop at Montrose and Clarendon, which is located on a freakin' median in the middle of 18-way traffic, and has a snow/mud covered slope as the only convenient path to the sidewalk... I usually choose to get off at Junior Terrace, because I prefer the wind and marginally longer walk to getting run over (or just ruining my shoes).
Oh, wait. This was mainly just another post fishing for Shiller-bashing, wasn't it...
Correction... zee ridonk median bus stop must be at Marine & Montrose, right. Yeah, I stay away from those stops in general in winter, so I think I have some of the 87 Lakeshore busses confuzzled.
There used to be a shelter at Marine and Montrose, but it was run (pre-Je-Decaux) but it run over by a truck. The bus stop should not even be in that location to begin with because it does not meet any safety guidelines for bus stop placement.
After all, who would stupidly locate a bus stop on a 5-foot-wide median strip between a busy intersection and an on-ramp to Lake Shore Drive? Answer: Your Alderman Shiller during the election year when the Mayor was giving incumbent alderman bus shelters as voter give-aways to support their reelection campaigns. A single bus stop used to be located at Junior Terrace approximately equal distant between the 900 condo owners at Imperial Towers (4250 N Marine Drive) and the condo owners at 4300 N Marine Drive. To please more voters at 4250 N Marine Drive, the one bus stop was moved south to directly in front of that building, decreasing the length of their walk by a block. That ticked off the 4300 N Marine Drive Condo owners, who now had to walk an additional block. So Shiller to get those votes, Shiller promised 2 bus stops within the length of two blocks and placed the new bus stop on the only available space - the median strip. Block club leaders contacted the City Dept of Transportation by phone and letter saying that placing a bus stop and shelter in on the Montrose intersection was an accident waiting to happen. And sure as hell, we watched a large dump truck turn onto the ramp with too much speed and flatted the shelter - fortunately with no bus riders in it. All the I-Told-You-So's in the world have not gotten that bus stop moved and the bus stop is still in a dangerous (and windy) location 12 years later. Photos of the crushed shelter are available for non-believers.
I absolutely believe that any shelter there would have eventually gotten run over. Idiot drivers take too long to figure out which right turn is the entrance to LSD all the time, not to mention busses missing their turn altogether and large vehicles taking the turn too quickly.
In bad weather, I *certainly* do not use that stop. It's quite a few feet behind the intersection's corner, there's no crosswalk, and since there are more than two directions of traffic flowing through, it's hard to judge by the traffic lights when it's safe to cross. In poor visibility or during rush hour, you're asking for pain. I don't know if many children frequently get on the bus there, but I surely hope not.
I should eventually take the Google Street View photos from my (almost exactly 1-year-old) snarky blog post (here), desnarkify it, and make a formal complaint. Except, I'm lazy, and who would care... I've never had any useful or productive contact with the CTA.
Worse than that, I've tried numerous time to get someone to listen to the argument that we need a bus shelter at the Montrose/Marine stop. Stand on Lake Shore Drive and feel the wind blowing there with no shelter and you will understand what we mean when there's no relief from the elements.
ReplyDeleteWait.
ReplyDeleteA journalist calls the alderman's office and actually gets a response?
That is news.
That whole area is basically a wind tunnel. I weigh about 12lbs, so I've had to hang on to street signs to avoid being blown off of my feet. I would suggest walking to the Montrose & Clarendon shelter (about 15 feet away) in combination with using the CTA Bus Tracker wisely.
ReplyDeleteMore irritating is the north-bound stop at Montrose and Clarendon, which is located on a freakin' median in the middle of 18-way traffic, and has a snow/mud covered slope as the only convenient path to the sidewalk... I usually choose to get off at Junior Terrace, because I prefer the wind and marginally longer walk to getting run over (or just ruining my shoes).
Oh, wait. This was mainly just another post fishing for Shiller-bashing, wasn't it...
Correction... zee ridonk median bus stop must be at Marine & Montrose, right. Yeah, I stay away from those stops in general in winter, so I think I have some of the 87 Lakeshore busses confuzzled.
ReplyDeleteI stand at this bus stop every morning. That pole comes in handy when it's really windy and you need to keep yourself from sliding away on the ice!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'd rather be at this rather 'swanky' corner sans a shelter, than at Montrose and Sheridan with a shelter.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be a shelter at Marine and Montrose, but it was run (pre-Je-Decaux) but it run over by a truck. The bus stop should not even be in that location to begin with because it does not meet any safety guidelines for bus stop placement.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, who would stupidly locate a bus stop on a 5-foot-wide median strip between a busy intersection and an on-ramp to Lake Shore Drive? Answer: Your Alderman Shiller during the election year when the Mayor was giving incumbent alderman bus shelters as voter give-aways to support their reelection campaigns. A single bus stop used to be located at Junior Terrace approximately equal distant between the 900 condo owners at Imperial Towers (4250 N Marine Drive) and the condo owners at 4300 N Marine Drive. To please more voters at 4250 N Marine Drive, the one bus stop was moved south to directly in front of that building, decreasing the length of their walk by a block. That ticked off the 4300 N Marine Drive Condo owners, who now had to walk an additional block. So Shiller to get those votes, Shiller promised 2 bus stops within the length of two blocks and placed the new bus stop on the only available space - the median strip. Block club leaders contacted the City Dept of Transportation by phone and letter saying that placing a bus stop and shelter in on the Montrose intersection was an accident waiting to happen. And sure as hell, we watched a large dump truck turn onto the ramp with too much speed and flatted the shelter - fortunately with no bus riders in it. All the I-Told-You-So's in the world have not gotten that bus stop moved and the bus stop is still in a dangerous (and windy) location 12 years later. Photos of the crushed shelter are available for non-believers.
I absolutely believe that any shelter there would have eventually gotten run over. Idiot drivers take too long to figure out which right turn is the entrance to LSD all the time, not to mention busses missing their turn altogether and large vehicles taking the turn too quickly.
ReplyDeleteIn bad weather, I *certainly* do not use that stop. It's quite a few feet behind the intersection's corner, there's no crosswalk, and since there are more than two directions of traffic flowing through, it's hard to judge by the traffic lights when it's safe to cross. In poor visibility or during rush hour, you're asking for pain. I don't know if many children frequently get on the bus there, but I surely hope not.
I should eventually take the Google Street View photos from my (almost exactly 1-year-old) snarky blog post (here), desnarkify it, and make a formal complaint. Except, I'm lazy, and who would care... I've never had any useful or productive contact with the CTA.