The facts about work on CTA rail slow zones
I've been meaning to write about slow zones since KevinB earlier this week complained that "last year [they] were supposed to "fix" the slow zones and here we still have a major one from Grand to Lake."
Well, the fact is, Kevin, that the CTA never said the work they did last year would eliminate ALL slow zones. They focused on certain areas and completed that work -- such as from Grand to Clark/Division.
And in November last year, I reported that the CTA would be working on the new slow zone from Roosevelt through Grand. And here's a slow zone map showing the ares from the CTA's site.
So Kevin, I do respect your right to criticize the CTA, but in this case, you have your facts wrong.
Kevin:
With all due respect I didn't say all the slow zones. I do know there are still slow zones North of Addison and south of harrison.
What I do think is false information or at the very least misinformation, is that all the propaganda that was distributed last year all but promised that the slow zones between belmont and lake were fixed last year.
Evidently I'm not the only one who thought this was the reason for all the closures and the "5 mile per hour" slow zones in the underground that were all the rage last year.
I find it unrealistic that the CTA would put the already slow 3 track SB into operation on top of "slow zones" between lake and grand. With all the additional construction going on underground for the last 5 months, I also find it downright bad planning that this couldn't have been fixed by now.
I'll stand by my assertion that the promise was that things would be be fixed by now. This is definitely within things that "Ron could fix" agenda.
KevinB
Posted by: KevinB | May 29, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Kevins -
For some clarity on what the CTA DID promise, you could refer to the CTA's slow zone page that they created last summer - http://www.yourcta.com/news/motion/szep.html#blue
At the very bottom of this updated page is a release about what areas of the Red and Blue lines that they were going to work on. Subsequent releases provided more detail and updates.
Tatttler Kevin has the right idea about what was officially promised. I, for one, never got the impression that all the slow zones between "belmont and lake would be fixed" - at least not from anything I read from the CTA.
On the other hand, supporting KevinB's perceptions, some of Ron's interviews/webchats seemed to overpromise the slow zone removals (a Trib webchat with K. Kyles comes to mind).
Posted by: akj | May 29, 2008 at 10:52 PM
All I know is my trip on the blue line has been flying lately.
Posted by: Alex | May 30, 2008 at 07:47 PM
While there are still slow zones they are nothing, IMO, compared to what we were enduring before. The red line couldn't beat a Brown/Purple from Fullerton to Belmont. . .now it's a close tie. :)
All in all, I think the progress is great. . .at least the CTA is working on the slow zones!
(I also originally thought that *all* slow zones were to be eliminated in 2007. . .however, some co-workers at the time corrected me. After re-reading the announcements, I realized that I was mistaken and only some slow zones were to be worked on in 07.)
Posted by: JT | June 03, 2008 at 07:42 PM