Events

Funding for major Chicagoland transit projects will be at stake tomorrow, when regional representatives convened by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning vote on whether to move forward with the Illiana Tollway. Even though approving the Illiana will jeopardize CTA and Metra improvements by adding competition for the same pot of funds, all four Chicagoland transit agencies – and the Chicago Department of Transportation – either voted for the project or abstained in an advisory vote earlier this month.

Remember to join Streetsblog and the Active Transportation Alliance next week as we celebrate the CTA’s plan to build fast, reliable bus rapid transit on Ashland Avenue and talk about the campaign to make this vision a reality. We’ll be hosting the Ashland BRT Advocate Social and BeeRT Pub Stroll this Tuesday, October 15, 5:30 p.m. at the Cobra Lounge, 235 North Ashland, just north of the Ashland/Lake ‘L’ stop.

I recently attended a Ventra balance transfer event at Marquette Park. At these community events, CTA staffers are on hand to read the balance on residents' existing farecards and transfer it to a Ventra card. It was an enlightening experience – but not in a good way. Critical bits of info about the transition process are missing or easy-to-miss on the CTA and Ventra web sites, and the opportunities to use existing fare media continue to dwindle. Yesterday was the last day to buy new reloadable magnetic stripe cards.

You've got to hand it to them, Roger Romanelli and his Ashland-Western Coalition anti-bus rapid transit group have done an effective job of organizing residents who oppose the CTA’s plan for fast, reliable transit on Ashland Avenue, garnering plenty of media attention. Now it’s time for some of Chicago’s 1,800-plus registered BRT supporters to become as visible and vocal as the NIMBYs.

Last Thursday, Dutch "mobility advisor" Sjors van Duren stood by the Lakefront Trail, pointed to the block of Monroe Street between Columbus and Lake Shore Drive, and asked, "What is the function of this street?" The answer, it was agreed, is to distribute automobiles between the Loop and Lake Shore Drive. Van Duren works for the Arnhem Nijmegen City Region in the Netherlands, and he was brought to Chicago last week by the Dutch Cycling Embassy (a public/private program that aims to export Dutch cycling policies) to lead a group of local advocates, planners, engineers, and neighbors to find a way to make Monroe Street better for cycling between the Loop and Lakefront Trail.

In his keynote address for the American Public Transportation Association’s annual meeting yesterday at the Hilton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that quality transit is a cornerstone of his economic development policy.

The city of Evanston transformed Ridge Avenue for two miles yesterday for the annual Bike The Ridge, a car-free open streets event. Normally, Evanston bans bicycle riding on Ridge Avenue, a four-lane arterial through town, but not this past Sunday.

Tonight the future of the Marshall Boulevard bike lane could be at stake at a community meeting hosted by 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas.

Chicago's 1,900-mile alley system is one of our most important transportation networks and not something to take for granted. In New York City, for example, alleys are scarce. In Chicago neighborhoods, these passageways provide access for shortcuts, garbage collection and the odd pickup basketball game or garage sale. Downtown, they're useful for garbage, deliveries and savvy bike messengers.