I first caught wind of possible renovations to the Skokie Swift late last year (see "Mystery of the Skokie Swift").  Then I was more concerned with the choice of architects - why pay federal tax dollars to an out of state entity to help build Illinois infrastructure?  Why not instead employ the same team that brought us the Brown Line renovations (short answer: because they were unnecessary for the most part and expensive to boot).

Recently I attended the second public meeting on the Yellow Line renovation.  The four hundred plus respondents to their first survey indicated the desire for a stop at Dodge, across from the Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue, Levy Senior Center and James Park.  However preferences were all over the map, with many people indicating Ridge and Asbury as preferred.  Their presentation in September helped provide additional information.  It also eliminated the Ridge stop as my preferred option.  No mystery here however.  While the Ridge stop would entertain close to 280,000 boardings a year (number of times someone walks in trains at that stop), the most boardings of the three, its lack of a dedicated bus stop lane, proximity to Howard Street and distance from identified Evanston bike lanes makes it not-quite-as-preferrable.  What we of the ninth ward may do if and when the CTA demolishes the South Blvd is anybody's guess..

(Asbury stop circa 1925 - dig the retail space!)

Asbury seems the next logical choice.  The Yellow Line Feasibility Study site offers information on boardings, proximity to local attractions, and connections with bus and bicycles.  Asbury is closest to major attractions like the Howard Street commercial corridor, stands on a bike lane, directly connects to the 206 bus and indirectly with the 97 bus (travelling to Old Orchard) and the 49B Western Ave bus. Most important it would entertain an estimated 263000 boardings a year - thirty percent more than Dodge Ave.  No mystery there either, but I'll let you be the judge of that.  Their second survey is ready for your feedback.

Before you send this Mystery Van packing however a few unanswered questions remain for this meddling kid -

1. Ann Rainey, Coleen Burrus and others have assured me they would stoutly defend the South Blvd stop from any CTA plans to close it.  The CTA scoping report on Red/Purple line renovations however require closing the stop for anything but the most basic repairs.  This makes some sense from the view of train speed, as would closing stops at Dempster and Foster in Evanston.  Of course, if speed were all that important we wouldn't have the CTA we do today, but simply lots of 'Swifts'..

2. Where is Citizen's Greener Evanston in this discussion?  Now flush with $15000 in grant money from the City and provided in large part by Wal Mart, the ostensibly grass roots organization would conceivably chime in on this development, using it as an opportunity to encourage greater mass transit use, and incorporating it into their Community Agenda.  I'm a part of CGE, and have asked board members.  They tell me the ridership isn't substantial enough.  Hm, 263000 boardings a year.  If each of those equated instead to entrances of an automobile, and we appended X as the carbon footprint of the resulting trip, how much CO2 would we avoid with such a train stop?  What am I missing?

3. Has the City actually received the blessing and support of the CTA in this venture?  You will note the feasibility study is a City website.  The September presentation indicated this was mainly the domain of Ann Rainey, 8th ward alderman.  And she indicated this wasn't yet a CTA project.  Hmm.  I wondered about the first of many stops on a renovated Yellow Line last December.  Perhaps we should question insead the availability of funds for just one stop, especially with a Tea Party House bent on destroying the federal government.

4. I hate to sound like one of those youngsters occupying Wall Street god-bless-'em, but really, why have we let the Skokie Swift make just one stop for fifty years?  There's this city along the way see, and the train runs through it, but doesn't make a single stop.  Why?