Sponsored by: • Sun-Times editorial: Time for a leadership change at CTA: Show Dorval Carter the exit door • Bears reveal plans for $4.6 billion domed lakefront stadium development (Sun-Times) • CTA “Officially launches new Chatbot to improve customer interaction with the agency” • Federal judge approves $12M settlement over botched Hilco implosion (Block Club) • Evanston’s new transit coordinator Sarah FioRito talks road, Metra upgrades (Daily Northwestern) • Is Chicago one of the worst big cities for biking, as People for Bikes claimed, or one of the 2nd best bike commuting cities ..read more

As a longtime bicycle courier, and one of Chicago’s most adventurous bike riders and writers, George Christensen did extensive cycling trips in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. These included biking the length of three continents and one subcontinent, India. Starting in 2001, he eloquently documented his travels on his well-read blog, George the Cyclist. But tragically, on Monday night Christensen’s life was cut short at age 73, when a truck driver fatally struck him as he rode through the southeastern United States. Yesterday morning sources notified Streetsb ..read more

This post is sponsored by The Bike Lane. You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. A old-school Divvy station in Lincoln Park. Photo: Divvy Recently longtime Chicago bike Lowell Nelson advocate reached out to us with some photos of brand new Divvy bike-share docking stations. Unlike the old-school stations, whose docks featuring docks with vaguely trapezoidal shapes, the new ones have sort-of round cross-sections. Closeup of a new dock. Photo: Lowell Nelson “I’ve seen these new docks in a couple locations on the Southwest Side,” he said. “Do you know how many have been installed?” I promis ..read more

Sponsored by: • Starting at 1:37 AM today, Blue Line service was suspended on the Forest Park branch between Forest Park and Harlem “due to track conditions” (NBC) • Metra: Construction to affect midday service on Rock Island Beverly branch April 29 and 30 • SUV driver killed after striking pole, 2 children critically injured, Monday around 2:40 AM in 4-lane 3000 block of East 106th in South Deering (ABC) • 5 drivers crashed, at least one person injured Monday around 5:03 PM on I-57 near 159th Street (FOX) • Security guard uninjured after falling down 2 flights of stairs at Grand Red ..read more

Sponsored by: • Block Club: “Mayor sticking with embattled CTA boss for now as Gov. Pritzker calls for ‘new leadership’ • Sun-Times: “CTA touts its ‘Second Chance’ program for ex-offenders, but few end up with permanent jobs” • Driver dies after they Barrington Toll Plaza Plaza on I-90 and car was engulfed in flames (NBC) • Speeding driver crashed into home at Westmoor/Greenbay in Winnetka, fled on foot and was taken to hospital (CBS) • Hoodline: Urgent search for missing Chicago teen Samuel Gonzalez, last seen on CTA • Op-ed from UIC prof: Passing an Idaho Stop law in Chicago, allowing b ..read more

This post is sponsored by Ride Illinois. In the last three days, there’s been an increased focus on the policy failures of CTA President Dorval Carter. And there’s been growing pressure on Mayor Brandon Johnson to improve the region’s largest transit provider by replacing Carter.  Specifically, under Carter’s leadership, the CTA has not explained why the Yellow Line was closed for 50 days after a collision last January. It hasn’t justified why a bus driver who passed out and died in her operator’s chair was not noticed for nearly an hour, even though her bus hadn’t moved and had miss ..read more

This post is sponsored by Keating Law Offices. Metra is significantly boosting weekend service on the BNSF Line, Metra’s busiest line. In a first for the railroad, the schedule will be the same for Saturdays and Sundays. The changes will take effect on Monday, April 29. Under the new schedule, the BSNF will run 18 trains in each direction during the weekend, 20 percent more than it currently runs on Saturdays (15) and 80 percent more than it presently runs on Sundays (10). For the most part, the trains will run once an hour, with consistent headways for local trains. Metra is also tinkeri ..read more

Sponsored by: Get national headlines at Streetsblog USA. • CTA: Blue Line Forest Park branch service to be temporarily impacted by April 26-9 construction work (FOX) • Driver charged with DUI in I-57 crash in Dixmoor that killed 2 passengers (FOX) • One killed in fiery crash at Jane Addams Tollway plaza in Hoffman Estates (CBS) • Block Club: ‘Green Alleys’ help prevent flooding, but vulnerable neighborhoods Must Wait in Line (Block Club) • Urban Planner Joshua Wood: “Conveniently Unsustainable: Driving Everywhere” • DuSable Lake Shore Drive construction will Close Sout ..read more

This post is sponsored by the Active Transportation Alliance. By now Streetsblog readers are well aware of the Clark Street kerfuffle. In a nutshell, a car-free Expanded Outdoor Dining district was created during the COVID-19 pandemic on the three-block stretch of Clark between Grand Avenue and Kinzie Street in River North. It made the public space safer, more environmentally friendly, and more profitable, and a 2023 survey conducted by local alderperson Brendan Reilly showed the pedestrian-friendly zone was very popular with residents. A pie chart of Ald. Reilly’s survey asking residents ..read more

• Lawmakers, alderpersons demand IDOT safety measures for deadly stretch of Pulaski Road on Southwest Side (ABC) • Eric Zorn: Blocking the expressway to O’Hare and making people miss their flights is “no way to win hearts and minds” to end the Israel-Hamas war • After someone was photographed biking on the shoulder of the Ontario feeder ramp to I-90, IL State Police warn: Don’t wind up dead on the Kennedy (NBC) • Out of the frying pan attack on Red Line ‘L’ windows, into the fiery attack on the Grand station: Why are people trashing CTA infrastructure? (FOX, CBS) • WTTW: “Who decides which Chi ..read more