Connecting Communities
South Side of Chicago Caucus
November 5, 2003
A Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission project in partnership with:
Crerar Memorial Presbyterian Church
Connecting Communities caucuses are a public involvement
follow-up to the Connecting Communities summits that involved
over 500 people from throughout northeastern Illinois. The
caucuses are designed to take a "snapshot" of a community's
views on progress toward their summit recommendations. Some
recommendations were major projects that could only be
accomplished over a long time period. Others were practical,
short term, and inexpensive solutions to community mobility
deficits.
Community economic development and transportation
policy continued to be closely linked for South Side
residents who attended the Connecting Communities
caucus. The South Side's history is directly linked to
the history of transportation in North America (see
excerpt from summit); caucus attendees were mindful
that strong transportation links will be necessary to
recapture the South Side's historic vitality.
New transportation investment or lack of investment
will have an impact south of Pershing Road for
decades. Caucus attendees expressed doubt about
several proposed projects and about the lack of
community input in selecting projects. The most highly
desired major projects included the Gray Line
1
and
CTA Red Line extension to 130
th
Street (with certain
concerns about the alignment of the latter project).
Participants were very skeptical of plans to close
several South Side ramps as part of the Dan Ryan (I-
90/94) reconstruction plan.
Create local jobs and access to jobs in other areas.
Minor progress on transportation-linked development
was reported over the last two years. Recent
transportation investment however, has not
significantly improved economic development. New
commercial developments located at 86-87
th
and
Cottage Grove and Indiana were signs of progress,
but the extent to which transportation assets were
coordinated with new development was viewed as
minimal.
The proposed CREATE Plan
2
was viewed optimistically.
The South Side more than other parts of the region
could benefit from reduced rail congestion and
increased jobs at terminals, intermodal yards and spin-
off industries. One person re-emphasized the summit
suggestion to leverage transportation industry jobs
by establishing a new bus/train manufacturing plant
in Pullman.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) received praise
and criticism for policies related to job access. New
bus routes were roundly applauded, but the threat of
a fare increase would make commuting less affordable,
putting an unreasonable burden on minimum wage
workers.
Build on existing transit assets.
Recent increases in the hours of service, route
extensions and express service were highly valued improvements
on CTA buses, including 87
th
Street, King Drive, Cottage Grove,
79
th
Street, 95
th
Street and Garfield Boulevard. Extended service
on Vincennes to serve Simeon Career Academy was also
recommended.
More bus shelters, and bus shelters with seats, were recommended
during the 2001 summit; shelters installed by the city were seen
as a constructive step, but the liquor advertisements on the sides
of the shelters were undesirable. Bike racks on buses were seen
as another welcome improvement.
Decades of promises to extend the Red Line are beginning to wear
thin. Caucus participants felt strongly that the extension should
be a high priority project for the region and that particular attention
should be paid to access for residents of Altgeld Garden, who have
limited transit service. The proposed Gray Line, which would
provide frequent CTA service on existing Metra Electric track, was
1
See description, last paragraph of this page.
2
A plan of the freight railroads and the city to invest $1.5 billion to improve freight rail traffic in the city.
Excerpt from the South Side of Chicago
Connecting
Communities Summit of November 28, 2001
"The industrial history of the region is as diverse as
its people. Chicago was the greatest railroad city in
the United States. The stock yards on the South Side
created great demand for rail transport. Rail and
local waterways facilitated the trade of goods such as
lumber, grain, livestock and steel products. The
southern area steel mills introduced thousands of
jobs to the area and spurred expansion of existing
rail and transportation services. Transportation
stimulated the economy of the area as home seekers
followed the rail lines and new communities were
developed."
