posted by chicago pop
Don't fall in!CTA Bus Stop, 4th Ward
51st and Cornell Avenue
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Hyde Park Progress is a blog devoted to promoting reasonable economic improvement in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. It is a forum for members of the community who want to end the artificial isolation of Hyde Park from the larger economy of the City. It calls for the improvement of neighborhood retail and commercial amenities, safety, and liveliness.
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HPP - like that bowl of prunes you always reach for at the deli.
HPP - like that bowl of prunes you always reach for at the deli.
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8 comments:
Help! I'm stuck at the bottom...get me out!
My favorite couple of bus stops are on the east side of Lake Park between 55th and 47th -- where there are no sidewalks for blocks, only muddy trails, and cars dodging potholes as they zoom past.
CTA couldn't care less about their customers. A federal judge recently ruled that CTA isn't responsible for the snow or ice on their platforms. So, I wouldn't be surprised if CTA weren't responsible for that hole, either! :-)
I'm not excusing the CTA's many imperfections, but I doubt that curbside construction such as shown in the photo is under CTA's authority, even if next to a bus stop. CTA doesn't own or control city streets, sidewalks, roadways etc. CDOT, Streets & San and other city departments are responsible for those. The new bus shelters are owned and maintained by the JC Decaux firm, under an agreement with the city, not the CTA.
I wish CTA did own the streets: the potholes would get fixed. Aldermen wouldn't be able to divert the money to politically motivated parking scams.
Ownership of 'L' structures isn't all-CTA either. The agency may own the oldest "L' structures because they were inherited from various sources including the original private companies.
The CTA didn't built the newer facilities such as the lines in expressway medians, subways, and the Orange Line. The city's grandiose-sounding Department of Subways & Superhighways, later the Department of Public Works, later CDOT built those. CTA maintains them.
I'd like to see the full text of the ruling about snow at 'L' platforms. It may have to do with legal liability rather than actual maintenance.
So whose responsibility is this particular trap-door bus stop? CDOT?
If I ran the CTA, I'd yank the stop altogether and make people go to either of two nearby sheltered stops. This stop is an insult to commuters (and probably redundant).
The responsibility for the hole probably depends on what's in the hole. It might be the water department, ComEd, a gas company, etc.
Chicago Pop is right about the silliness of that bus stop. It's about 300 feet either way to adjacent stops. CTA does have too many bus stops mid-block and such, and eliminating some of them would actually improve service, not to mention freeing up curb space for parking. But there ain't no way, politically that will happen. The loudest wailers will be those who use the bus once in a blue moon. A real blustering opportunity for an alderman. It's FIMFY, the polar opposite of NIMBY. FIMFY: Forever in my front yard.
I've often wondered why there are two northbound bus stops in the block of Hyde Park Blvd. between 53rd and 54th. It's nice and convenient for me, but it seems a bit silly.
And why is there a southbound stop on E. Hyde Park midway between Cornell and S. Hyde Park and another one right around the corner?
Ah, sweet mysteries of life in Chicago . . .
Ah what would life be without urban confusion. Born and raised in Chicago how I would love to have too many bus stops. Live in Wisconsin now. The buses run every half hour and hourly and never on Sunday. Think winter.
Try going to the main post office which is out in suburbia (Go figure) and having to walk five blocks after getting off the bus with no sidewalks and dust flying in your face from speeding cars coming off the highway AND having to walk five blocks back to the same place to get the bus--hopefully you didn't miss it. It runs hourly---to the MAIN post office. Too many buses and bus stops. I would love it!
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