Transportation Slowdown Frustrates Chicago Riders

Riders of Chicago's elevated train system are frustrated over the slowdown that will begin in April.

The Chicago Transit Authority announced in early 2007 that construction on the El's Brown Line would affect all riders on the north side. A track will be removed to allow platforms along the line to be rebuilt.

"We will provide as much service as we can operate safely, but our capacity will be greatly reduced," CTA chairwoman Carole Brown said. "Customers should expect very crowded conditions and longer commutes, especially during rush hours."

CTA estimates nearly 200,000 rides will be affected on the north side of the city each day. Brown, red, and purple line riders will all feel the construction's repercussions.

Riders along those lines said they were not happy.

Coleen Adamson, a 34-year-old copy editor from Evanston, commutes twice daily on the El. She said she would look at alternative ways to get downtown to her job.

"I'm actually going to switch to the Metra," she said. "My job is right above the Grand CTA stop, so it's pretty convenient to take the El. But the commute is pretty bad now, and I don't want to risk it come April."

Adamson said she would be willing to switch back to taking the El after the construction phase is over.

For others, the slowdown may become an expensive ordeal.

"It probably will make me buy a car," said Kim Riley, a 28-year-old restaurant worker from Chicago. "I'm serious."

Riley said her commute from the Thorndale stop to Evanston takes 35-40 minutes now. She said she expects that will go way up in April.

Others were hesitant to speculate if their riding habits would change, preferring to wait and see exactly how bad the inconvenience will become.

John Sparks, the 65-year-old artistic director of Chicago's Academy for New Musical Theatre, said he takes the El twice daily the two weeks out of each month he is in town.

"It remains to be seen exactly how bad things will get," Sparks said. "I only ever ride the train as far as Belmont before I get off. I think it will be a nuisance at best."

Sparks, who spends the rest of each month in Los Angeles, said he was still impressed by Chicago's public transportation overall.

"It's terrific - a lot better than anything in Los Angeles," he said.

Chang Lu, a freshman in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University in Evanston, said that the slow down might force her to look at new options. But she said she wasn't sure any other transportation options would be much better.

"I take the buses sometimes to get downtown in order to go home," the 18-year old from Troy, Mich. said. "It's just not fast enough and it's a bit unreliable. I've missed the bus to go home sometimes because my bus here was late."

"It all depends on the delay," she said. "I'll take whatever gets me where I want to go the fastest."