South Shore plans $65 million project |
South Shore plans $65 million project |
Jun 9 2009, 01:25 PM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,425 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=39824.82
QUOTE 17 crossings may be eliminated The NICTD preliminary concept for rerouting the South Shore through Michigan City eliminates 17 of the current 34 street crossings. The 17 intersections are marked on the preliminary concept for the South Shore relocation. While the crossing at Washington Street is not Xed out, that is the proposed location for a new train station. Based on the plan, the following crossings would be closed: Carlon Court and adjacent alley, Donnelly Street and adjacent alley, Claire Street, Kentucky Street, Tennessee Street, Elston Street, Manhattan Street, Buffalo Street, Spring Street, Cedar Street, Lafayette Street, York Street, Oak Street, Maple Street and Phillips Avenue. More South Shore details released Laurie Wink The News-Dispatch MICHIGAN CITY - Property owners with parcels south of current South Shore tracks on 10th and 11th streets await an uncertain future until plans for realigning the commuter train are adopted. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District operates the South Shore and announced last week it intends to significantly re-configure more than two miles of track running through Michigan City. NICTD's preliminary downtown rerouting concept, developed by TranSystems of Chicago, shows the tracks heading south of 10th Street at Sheridan Avenue and proceeding through town to a point just east of Michigan Boulevard, where the regular route resumes. John Parsons, NICTD spokesperson, said properties north of 11th Street will not be affected. He said the specific houses and properties that would be impacted by the change have not yet been identified. He said the project, estimated at $65 million, has been developed at a "gross level of detail" and changes could be made as the engineering process moves forward. A map labeled "Preliminary Downtown Reroute Concept" shows a South Shore station and 775-space parking area between Franklin and Wabash streets and from Warren Street north to 11th Street. The map includes station information that lists the current 11th Street parking lot at 42 spaces and the Carroll Avenue station at 155 spaces. Those stations would be replaced with the new downtown station. The new route is designed to eliminate the curve between 10th and 11th streets near the Amtrak intersection, and also remove the curve at Cedar and Lafayette streets. As now indicated on the map, the tracks run parallel but one row of houses south of the existing 11th street tracks between Kentucky Street and Michigan Boulevard. At Sheridan Avenue, looking east, the proposed route angles to the right, eventually running well behind the houses on the south side of 10th Street and linking directly with the portion of track that would be just south of 11th Street. Chicago Street would be rerouted, but it would retain a crossing of the South Shore tracks. Depending on funding and station design, Parsons said a parking ramp could be constructed, allowing for private developers to create an activity center in the areas surrounding the station. An environmental impact statement will be required before property can be purchased, Parsons said. "An environmental impact statement and public hearing are required as part of the process," he said. "The specifics will follow as part of the on-going process to qualify for federal funding." NICTD has yet to obtain funding for the detailed engineering plan that comes next, Parsons said. Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie has reviewed the NICTD preliminary downtown route and will present the plan to the City Council for its approval. Parsons expects some issues to be raised by the council at that point. "We certainly want to develop a plan in concert with Michigan City that meets their needs," Parsons said. Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com. |
Aug 27 2009, 06:25 PM
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Really Comfortable Group: Moderator Posts: 1,658 Joined: 26-July 07 From: Michigan City Member No.: 482 |
One of the questions I'd have for the North Enders would be, even if Amtrak decides to build a high level bridge, how much additional cost would be entailed in "piggybacking" additional rail lines on the bridge for NICTD?
I have to think that if Amtrak is running trains at 110 mph, the last thing they're going to want is going to be doing is sharing those tracks with local commuter rail lines. As for the miles of fences and other objections to the 11th street plan, once again, the proposed plan is just their first proposal, their "Xmas list." NICTD will settle for a lot less, as long as they can get their rails out of the asphalt. This post has been edited by Dave: Aug 27 2009, 06:39 PM |
Aug 28 2009, 05:58 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 115 Joined: 29-December 08 From: Warminster, PA Member No.: 865 |
One of the questions I'd have for the North Enders would be, even if Amtrak decides to build a high level bridge, how much additional cost would be entailed in "piggybacking" additional rail lines on the bridge for NICTD? I have to think that if Amtrak is running trains at 110 mph, the last thing they're going to want is going to be doing is sharing those tracks with local commuter rail lines. As for the miles of fences and other objections to the 11th street plan, once again, the proposed plan is just their first proposal, their "Xmas list." NICTD will settle for a lot less, as long as they can get their rails out of the asphalt. Dave, you're spot-on with the high speed rail observation. It is extremely difficult to operate high speed rail service in mixed traffic (i.e. with other classes of train - normal Amtrak, South Shore passenger, CSS&SB freight trains, etc.). High speed trains, for obvious reasons, require a longer distance to stop than lower speed trains. For that reason, they cast a longer "stopping distance shadow" in front of themselves that cannot be encroached upon by another train if you expect to be able to sustain high speeds. If you start to fill up the empty space in front of a high speed train with commuter or other lower speed traffic, the train control/signal system will enforce a decreased speed for the hot shot train, in order to ensure that it has adequate safe braking distance in front of it. So, the upshot is that you cannot schedule a lower speed train ahead of a hot shot for some defined time period at least equal to the time it would take the high speed train to catch up to a lower speed train (and usually longer than that, because the lower speed trains are normally locals, stopping at every station). That severely constrains an operations planner's ability to write a schedule that's convenient for the local service's passengers and provides enough trains to handle demand. It practically requires you to "clear the decks" once an hour (or however frequent the high speed service would operate) so the hot shot can operate unimpeded. Secondly, operation of high speed trains in mixed traffic environments leads to two less than optimal situations: "gapping" and "bunching". "Gapping" refers to the long time and space distance that develops behind a higher speed train in the lead and a following lower speed train. You lose the opportunity to use some of the capacity of the line because you wind up with long headway gaps between different classes of train; you can't simply insert a train in that developing gap, so you lose some of the utility of the line. "Bunching" refers to the groupings of trains you get when lower speed trains are operated ahead of higher speed ones. The high speed trains run up to the rear "signal wake" of the leading lower speed trains, get slowed down by the train control system, and as a result you get "bunches" of trains across the line (with high speed trains being reduced to the speed of the local trains when they bunch). The only way to ensure that these phenomena do not occur is to wholly separate high speed tracks from local tracks, so that you get trains with uniform performance characteristics operating together. So, that means - high speed rail is no solution to the north enders' cost issues. You would still need an entirely separate NICTD track (or two) across the bridge. And I can't imagine that Amtrak or some high speed rail authority would build extra bridge decks for NICTD out of the goodness of their hearts. |
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