Tuesday, May 25, 2010

What's Missing From This Picture?

A reader who went to the Maryville TIF Open House last week points out a strange omission:

The traffic study somehow excluded the Montrose Northbound Ramp. Wonder why, given that it is the one that is jammed every summer?

6 comments:

  1. Cuz neither the ramp, nor the Broadway/Montrose intersection, is part of the development area.

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  2. A traffic study concludes whatever the contactor wants it to conclude. The city or the developer pays for the study they choose a group who will find favorable to their desires.

    Just like the CTA Wilson Yard land appraisal first time around found comparable properties within blocks of the site. They set the value of the land at 6M but this was back maybe in 1997 - 2000 when values had not skyrocketed. When the sale actually took place several years later the value of the land had appreciated considerably but Holsten needed an appraisal that would show that the land was still worth $6M so they hired an appraiser who would give them what they wanted. That final appraisal used comparables miles away over on Kedzie and Lawrence. So the CTA sold land - blocks from the lake - that was in reality valued at $15-20M for pennies on the dollar (6M) – and now the CTA is broke

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  3. Not worry...they're recommending painting some stripes. That will fix everything.

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  4. If you want to oppose this development. Please join Facebook Group "Neighbors Against Lake View Station"

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  5. It can't be because the ramp is not in the proposed TIF and rezoning area because the Southbound Ramp at that intersection is not in the proposed area either, yet it is in the study.

    I wonder it the residents of 4300 N Marine Drive will like their condo president Karen Boehning and their board member Don Nowatny so well once they understand that their support of this project will make them lose the bus stop in front of their building?

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  6. When one transportation firm of good 'ol Irish boys gets 75% of Chicago's traffic study business, that says alot.

    Adjusting the project scope to exclude the problem area is always a wonderful way to get the resutls the client is paying for if one is a consultant.

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