Extend the Red and Orange Lines!

October 27, 2009

Jeffrey Busby

General Manager, Strategic Planning

Chicago Transit Authority

P.O. Box 7602

Chicago, Illinois 60680-7602

Cc:  Richard L. Rodriguez, CTA President; Terry Peterson, CTA Board Chairman; Stephen Schlickman, RTA Executive Director;  Peter M. Rogoff, FTA Administrator;  John Paul Jones, Developing Communities Project.

RE: CTA Alternatives Analysis Projects: Red Line Extension, Orange Line Extension, Yellow Line Extension.

Dear Mr. Busby:

This letter is regarding CTA’s Alternatives Analysis Projects: Red Line Extension, Orange Line Extension, and Yellow Line Extension.

Red Line Extension

The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) supports the CTA’s Red Line Extension to 130^th Street along the UPRR route.  We support the efforts of the Developing Communities Project (DCP) to extend rapid transit to underserved areas in the African-American communities of the South Side.  Once the CTA demonstrates sufficient progress toward bringing the existing rail and bus system into a State of Good Repair (SGR) and sufficient progress on maintaining, enhancing, and expanding the bus system, this project needs to moved forward with the utmost urgency.  Originally proposed for completion in 1970, we believe that the Red Line Extension to 130^th Street should be CTA’s first capital expansion priority for the El.  It must take priority over the CTA Circle Line and the Metra Star Line in order to remedy the systemic and institutional racial discrimination created by unequal access to rapid transit on Chicago’s South Side and South Suburbs.  This project would greatly reduce the travel times of transit riders traveling between Chicago’s far South Side and Downtown Chicago, providing significant economic benefits to riders and the regional economy.

Orange Line Extension

LVEJO supports the CTA’s Orange Line Extension Project.  CTA should build the Orange Line Extension as part of the Mid-City Transitway (Cicero Beltway Railroad).  Additionally, CTA should evaluate a potential station at 72^nd and Cicero to provide access to Walmart and other work/shopping destinations.

Yellow Line Extension

LVEJO believes that the Yellow Line Extension should be given lower priority, under the Red and Orange Line Extension.  CTA should study how this project could be integrated into the Mid-City Transitway as per previous studies commissioned by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT).  Given the large number of complaints from local residents, CTA needs

to modify the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) to accommodate the needs of those raising objections to the project.  If the LPA cannot be modified to satisfy these objections, then the project should be cancelled.

Additionally, all new CTA capital construction projects should meet or exceed federal Title VI Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements.  They should also work to provide jobs to low income community members from the surrounding area.

Sincerely,

Michael Pitula

Community Organizer – Public Transit

LVEJO