On a cold rainy May Friday afternoon, YPT-Chicago toured Chicago’s CREATE 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project as a sequel to our panel of experts event from 2016. First, participants visited the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office (CTCO) on Canal Street in the South Loop. At the CTCO participants learned about the history of the CTCO, why the CTCO plays a key role in facilitating planning and communication between rail operators for the successful coordination of rail traffic in Chicago, and glimpse the train tracking monitors for several rail lines in the Northeastern Illinois region. Then, we stopped briefly at the 71st Street Highway rail crossing to visualize the existent conditions of the site. Finally, we put on hard hats and safety vests to visit the Forest Hill Junction, where four freight and two passenger rail tracks cross at 75th Street.
Our special thanks to the experts from CDOT, Union Pacific, and other CREATE 75th Street CIP partners who led the tour and explained the complexities of the project.
– CREATE 75th Street CIP status_map
– CREATE 75th Street CIP 75th St Advocacy Paper
– CREATE 75th Street CIP Design of Existent and Future Conditions: 75th CIP
Young Professionals in Transportation - Chicago Chapter 