Promoted

Recently, the Chicago Tribune, and three difference articles in Crain's, have questioned the $5.7 billion cost of the the 5.5-mile Red Line Extension. It would connect the current 95th Street terminal with the Far South Side's Altgeld Gardens housing project. An editorial in the weekly business newspaper went so far as to say, "There's still time to avoid one of the costliest boondoggles City planners have dreamed up since the parking meter fiasco... even to pull the plug on it."

Recently, a reckless driver caused a car crash that killed beloved great-grandmother Maria Ochoa, 88, while she was out on a walk in Chicago's Garfield Ridge. Her family members and neighbors are demanding that the City make safety improvements to help prevent future traffic violence in the area.

Last week, the CTA's Red and Purple Modernization team and the organizers of the upcoming 2025 Transport Chicago conference hosted a tour of Phase One of the the 'L' corridor rehab. Overhauled stations in Uptown and Edgewater are slated to re-open this summer. Transport Chicago, taking place on Friday, June 13, bills itself as "providing a forum for the exchange of knowledge in transportation, research, policy, and practice."

This post is sponsored by The Bike Lane.

by Harjas Sandhu

Read the first half of this series, "Next stop, fiscal cliff: Advocates respond to Illinois legislators’ failure to fund transit before the deadline."

Last week, the Active Transportation Alliance started its 2025 Bike Commuter Challenge, presented by Keating Law Offices. (The firm is also a Streetsblog Chicago sponsor.) The first celebration station was put up on Wednesday, May 28, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, at Churchill Park, 1825 N. Damen Ave. in Bucktown.

After more than a year of negotiations and debate, transit revenue and reform failed to pass the state legislature by the budget deadline on Saturday, May 31. There are still options to avert the transit fiscal cliff, though they require a higher threshold to pass. Local transit agencies must dedicate significant resources to preparing for difficult service cuts in the meantime.

Good morning Streetsblog Chicago readers. I hope that as you read this, you've got a cup of strong coffee, or whatever your favorite morning beverage is, while we face the sobering outcome of Saturday's late-night Illinois General Assembly session.