Sunday, March 18, 2012

Exciting News About The Wilson El Rehab

Update on the Wilson and Lawrence el stations from Ald. Cappleman, originally posted in the comments:

"Here's what was mentioned at the last 46th Ward Town Hall meeting at Truman College:
  1. The Wilson Broadway Mall will be torn down toward the end of this year.  The CTA's carpenter's workshop (the building that is directly west of Rokito's) is scheduled to be torn down as well.  Details of what can be saved from the terra cotta of this building are not yet determined.
  2. Later this year, there will be public meetings to discuss the design of the station.  We will post the dates of these meetings as soon as we hear them.
  3. There will be a major focus on preserving the Gerber Building, with the arch and clock also getting replaced.  In this building, we hope to include an indoor market for fresh fruits, vegetables, etc.
  4. All of the current tracks over the Wilson Station will be removed and new tracks will be built over the site where the Wilson Broadway Mall is located.  Where the tracks cross over N. Broadway at the intersection of Leland, none of the supports will be touching any part of the street.  The crumbling supports will be a thing of the past. [UU Note: Hooray!]
  5. The vast amount of the deconstruction and construction of the Wilson L will take place in 2014, and there are no plans to shut down this station while it's getting rebuilt.
  6. The part of the platform that will extend south of Wilson Avenue will be completed in 2015.
  7. Details about the entrances and exits have not yet been decided. That will be part of the public planning process. Part of that decision is also driven by where the elevator and escalator can realistically be placed and that's not known yet.
  8. The Purple Line will make a stop at the Wilson L.
  9. The Lawrence L stop will experience a makeover in 2013, but details of the extent of this have not yet been made available.
When the Ward Office knows more, we will release the information in a newsletter and the 46th Ward's website."

17 comments:

  1. done properly this has seriously potential

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  2. Nice to see the Purple line making a stop, and that a lot of details are pending public input.

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  3. "The vast amount of the deconstruction and construction of the Wilson L will take place in 2014, and there are no plans to shut down this station while it's getting rebuilt."

    The other news is good, but this is foolishness. With Lawrence literally within sight of the Wilson station, wouldn't the reconstruction of Wilson cost less and be completed faster if the stop were closed?

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  4. So funny how people that don't use a particular stop think o heck lets close it. Let'em walk.

    Lawrence is important to the future proposed Uptown Entertainment District first of all. Second of all closing stops solves nothing.

    To speed up the train the tracks and stations need to be updated.

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  5. I agree with @jkarczek that this could/should be streamlined in light of the next station north being ~2 blocks away. Given the news though, I guess I should be happy with the plans and won't complain!

    (I will though be curious if/how much the station/area reconstruction spans past the projected completion date given the nature of city/government work. Any one have info on the timetable for how the Belmont station rehab went in contrast to its anticipated schedule?)

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  6. Bummer that we have to wait for all the fun to start until 2014. Hopefully the support columns don't give way by then, but very exciting that this will be a reality someday!

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  7. The Belmont stop took about two years and at least according to the CTA finished on time and budget.

    Belmont and Fullerton were probably more of a challenge as well since they had to demolish adjacent properties and switch to 3-track operation.

    More room to maneuver here at Wilson, so hopefully that 3-track slowdown won't re-occur.

    There are some lessons to be learned from those two stations, particularly regarding materials.

    At least they are now installing flashing now so garbage doesn't collect between these glass panels on the stairs. Also the acoustical panels on the outer track are crumbling....

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  8. the new station and improved track configuration sounds nice as does the fruit market and shopping. all of this is a mute point if that corner still remains one of the most risky places in the city.

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  10. This IS exciting news...but remember that 1) what happens with this station will make or break Uptown's future, and 2) the devil is in the details (and the details should be decided by Uptowners, NOT nameless/faceless pencil-pushers at CTA and the City's Planning Department).

    We all need to be thinking NOW about what we want the new station to be, what we want it to look like, how we want it to function, who we want it to serve, what we want to see happening around it, and what we can and should demand in order to see the station be safe and accessible and convenient. Make sure that your voice is heard and that you participate in the public meetings that should come...let the Alderman's office know if you feel strongly about particulars...see if your block club is active in the planning process, and push for it to do it if is isn't already. If we aren't ready when the planning happens, we miss any opportunities and will have to live with what non-Uptowners think is best for us.

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  11. "moot" not "mute".

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  12. "that corner still remains one of the most risky places in the city."

    This kind of hyperbole needs to stop. Wilson/Broadway can be unpleasent but it's far from the killing field it's made out to be.

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  13. I'm so glad to learn that the supports at Leland will be removed. That intersection has been the site of so many unfortunate accidents resulting from reckless turns and blocked viewing access. Maybe the Ace Hardware will be more visible...and patronized!!!

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  14. I'm guessing that Wilson won't need to close because of the track realignment. Right now the tracks run right next to Broadway north of WIlson, but they've apparently said that they'll be moved over the old maintenance shop and Wilson Mall. Looking at it from Google Maps, it appears that they should be able to build at least three of the tracks over there without disturbing the current station or tracks. However, there will need to be some 3 track work to replace all the trackage over Broadway/Leland. Looking at how current large elevated spans have been done on the Green Line over North Post Place/Lake Street and most recently over Ogden Avenue, I fear that some large steel girders are going to be erected in order to cover that span. I don't think building visibility is going to increase, and if anything, it's gong to get worse. Sorry Ace, but that's a very shallow crossing, so the span will have to be quite large to cover. I do like the idea of moving the station entirely so that the debate of how to add elevators in the Gerber Building doesn't need to happen. I also like the Purple Line stopping again. More traffic stopping locally instead of just passing through can't be a bad thing.

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  15. This is what 38 mil gets...granted demo costs here will be much higher but we should be excited.

    http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/23/morgan-station-now-open-and-ready-for-riders.php#reader_comments

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