Bad morning in Chicago western suburbs

[CShaveRR]

Wheaton, too?

At least the commuters can now get under the tracks at the College Avenue station. I hope that the Prairie Path bridge in Wheaton is rebuilt with a walkway down to the street next to the tracks on the north side (Front Street?), which probably wouldn't be too long a walk in a dire emergency.

[schlimm]

Carl:  On WBBM, they said College Avenue to Main were blocked in Wheaton.  Given that the bridge is closed to rebuild, that leaves 3 open crossings. 

[CShaveRR]

Darn! And our favorite restaurant in Glen Ellyn wouldn't have been open!

Seriously, back in CNW days, heaven and earth would have been moved to get that train out of the way when the Fleet was running. I'm not sure whether the current crews or their supervisors have been instilled with the same sense of urgency.

Western Springs is a hard-luck situation--if all of the crossings in that town are blocked, there's no easy way for cars to cross the tracks (there is now a pedestrian underpass some distance east of Wolf Road). In Glen Ellyn, Taylor Street can be used by cars, but there is no way for pedestrians to get from the parking lots south of the tracks to board inbound trains from the station platform.

Somewhere in the publicity about upgrading the UP West Line, I think they mentioned eliminating pedestrian crossings of the tracks. Glen Ellyn (and Lombard, for that matter) are places that might have problems with this. In Glen Ellyn, the only conceivable way would be with an overpass or tunnel for pedestrians, neither of which would be desirable from an aesthetic standpoint.

[schlimm]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/freight-train-blocks-auto-traffic-in-western-springs.html