Chicagoist: That IS Grand

joseph_dunphy_in_chicago

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:55:56 -0600

"Oh people, yes, please read again; "80% federally funded". This means, use it or lose it by federal standards. Would you rather have renovated stations or know that once again CTA was stupid by not using allocated money that can't be used for items such as service increases. It sucks, yes, but it's what we have to deal with." Point taken and appreciated, but this just shifts the idiocy from the city government to the federal. It doesn't change the fact of the idiocy.

biscuitcleaver

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:27:43 -0600

If memory serves correctly, a private company built the stretch of subway downtown Chicago as what we now know as the Red line. It was eventually purchased by the city of Chicago in 1945 and thus forming the CTA by mandate of the state of Illinois on April 12th 1945.

matilda

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:42:31 -0600

I think obvious stupidity was the point of that comment, via. If not, then the statement just makes me too depressed.

via chicago

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:31:54 -0600

"federal funding is the biggest ripoff. You have to waste state dollars just to receive them. There's a saying "leave no federal dollars on the table" all that means is that we have to spend and waste more local dollars for obscene project with money that we don't have. Its the biggest ripoff." The stupidity of this comment baffles even me.

lamgray

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:55:42 -0600

How much of the budget projected is allocated to bringing in what I am assuming is L.L. Bean/Dockers store workers from Minnesota (or Canada). I assume this is what is going on due to the fact that: a) Their clothing choices (as the 90s are finally making their rounds there) b) Their skin is so pale and sun ridden, it appears transparent. Man, by the time the station actually gets built in 2056, these folks they bring in might actually have IPODs! Better rerender the drawing CTA, to reflect this! PS: Can they have an idiot line to swipe the CTA pass? If I have to miss a train in the morning one more time b/c of THAT guy that can't figure it out. . .

UTV

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:56:15 -0600

I think you're all missing the point. $3,000,000 = station renovation $64,000,000 = design/implementation of shadow people technology Do your research!

mofoloco

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:24:27 -0600

When will we be able to see hot women getting busy with themselves and others at train stations and on trains like in those videos on the Internet?

Getreal

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:34:00 -0600

federal funding is the biggest ripoff. You have to waste state dollars just to receive them. There's a saying "leave no federal dollars on the table" all that means is that we have to spend and waste more local dollars for obscene project with money that we don't have. Its the biggest ripoff.

quicksloth

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:50:47 -0600

"they must have budgeted $67,100,000 for the combined renovations of the sedgwick and grand stops." Exactly. Looking at the plans for this station and the stops finished early in the Brown line rebuilding, it becomes even more glaringly obvious how impoverished looking stations done on the cheap after the cost overrun fiasco look. Montrose, Addison, Sedgwick, etc. all look more like prisons than mass transit stations. In the end, even this design isn't all that. Like the renovated stations at Lake and Jackson, this subway-by-way-of-McDonald's motif just seems cartoonish and cheap, especially compared with architecture employed by some of the world's better transit systems.

sparky

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:37:16 -0600

This is old news, by the way. The CTA Tattler had this as a post in October 2007 (same picture and everything) http://www.ctatattler.com/2007/10/grand-avenue-su.html Unless the funding has changed, there are also links explaining the funding formula for this station for anyone that wants further information. You're a bit behind the ball on this one, Chicagoist.

magilla gorilla

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:58:16 -0600

i guess i stand corrected. i assume all these types of projects these days are secretly about getting the olympics.

Bronto

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:19:49 -0600

So... it will actually cost $134 million by the time it is done then?

kimchee

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:05:38 -0600

Oh people, yes, please read again; "80% federally funded". This means, use it or lose it by federal standards. Would you rather have renovated stations or know that once again CTA was stupid by not using allocated money that can't be used for items such as service increases. It sucks, yes, but it's what we have to deal with. Also, all of this work (red line subway stations) was allocated 10 years ago, so no, this was not planned for the Olympics. And would you rather pay twice as much to put down granite floors that last 50 years, or other crap that lasts 10 years and has to be replaced? And yes, they are non-slip. Trust me, they design these stations for minimal maintenance, which sucks for us designers.

riguna

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:59:05 -0600

RE: I'm no expert but 67 million for ONE station seems excessive, especially when all the downtown underground stations could benefit from a little paint/tile work. Your wish has already been granted, and for about the same price tag for each station. Most of the stations that have not been recently renovated are under construction. The few (Harrison, others?) that are not in one of these categories are scheduled to be renovated on the heels of Grand/State and Clark/Division. You may not have noticed the new granite floors in the various State and Dearborn subway stations because the CTA has never cleaned them. It's all a part of their genius plan for zero maintenance, which actually directed the move to granite in the first place. (I wish I was kidding, but I'm not)

riguna

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:32:51 -0600

HA! Despite its prominant location greeting visitors on the Grand and State mezzanine, this rendering is OLD. The Grand and State station will look nothing like this. Excellent use of capital funds from the Crazy Kruesi days: Design station, redesign station, re-redesign station from scratch. Rinse. Repeat. Hopefully Ron will manage his funds more responsibly.

mike_thoms

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:16:32 -0600

are those shadow people also federally funded?

magilla gorilla

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:45:23 -0600

this is a federally funded project, according to the article. also, this is all about sprucing up the city for the olympics that we hopefully lose. improving transit times for locals had nothing to do with why chicago received this money

mike_thoms

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:44:36 -0600

I'm really freaked out by the shadow person in the rendering. there's one guy who's transparent, but you can still see details, but then there's another guy or girl or it who's just shadow. that's just freaky. is this the end of "Ghost" or something?

The Meteorologist

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:37:30 -0600

Are people transparent in the future? Can we have some ghosts at the Blue Line please?

celerysalt

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:37:09 -0600

amy, my point is that during those fun budget discussions in Springifrld, CDOT/IDOT should be coordinating with the CTA to come up with a plan that addresses both funding streams and spends taxpayers' dollars in a way that truly "benefits transit." Do separate state departments really not speak to each.... Oh geezus....never mind. I can't believe I almost typed that.' PS: ecstatic. apologies for the type-o.

tamalechica

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:27:22 -0600

That does seem like a lot of money. It's interesting that they plan to keep the station open. When they redid the Chicago Avenue Red Line Stop they kept that station open, also. So what's the deal with the CTA claiming they didn't have the money to keep the Brown Line stations open during reno? Of course with them well under way, it is moot now, but tell that to the small businesses that depended on the commuter revenue, and those with medical issues for whom hauling over to another station is not feasible. I haven't tested the floors at Montrose, but I have skidded down the aisles of one of the new busses on Western Avenue, on one knee. I think I got 10.0's by all the passengers for that performance.

celerysalt

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:26:43 -0600

Uhm, no. I call bullshit. No one knows separate funding streams (and restricted versus unrestricted dollars) better than I, but this is nuts. The whole CTA has been crying about funding and services cuts for years, we have to witness the world's largest circle jerk down in Springfield as a bunch of inept and bitter legislators try and legislate around it, and the CTA gives us a plan for a station with granite floors? How about we just concentrate not cutting service. How about a little extra sand on snow days? How about settling on simple "washable surfaces" before we start gilding stations. I'd be exstatic with trains and stations that don't smell like pee. And before anyone pipes in, please don't come to me with "it's a subway - it's always going to smell like pee". Lots of subways don't.

Amy Mikel

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:24:54 -0600

rhoswhen, station renovation funding comes from the chicago department of transportation (CDOT). the city owns the infrastructure and leases their use to the CTA.

jimbo

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:22:45 -0600

they must have budgeted $67,100,000 for the combined renovations of the sedgwick and grand stops.

matty

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:22:03 -0600

i know right. give me some new trains mo fo!

Navin

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:20:24 -0600

I can deal with an old timey station how about increasing frequency or even adding new lines.

peteypants

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:16:29 -0600

I'm no expert but 67 million for ONE station seems excessive, especially when all the downtown underground stations could benefit from a little paint/tile work. can't complain too much, though, since the new Grand would look much improved from the dungeon-like current one. the sun-times article quotes a woman as saying, "The Red Line is perfect — the station looks fine to me,”. anybody else scratch their heads at this?

Margaret

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:13:14 -0600

I really hope the granite floors are non-slip granite floors, because I'll tell you right now, the floors at the "NEW MONTROSE STOP" are the most dangerous floors since George Bailey danced his way through one.

matty

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:07:17 -0600

I can't wait to see this in 2067

rhoswhen

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:00:24 -0600

All this money to rennovate a station, and yet the CTA says "Hey man, we don't have enough money so you're fired." The CTA is insane.