Block 37

I have seen a lot of Block 37 comments on this and other blogs so I would like to take this time to address your comments and concerns. President Huberman, in order to most effectively utilize dwindling capital funds and maintain the valuable work completed to date, recommended adjusting the scope of Block 37. After extensive dialogue between management and the Board and careful consideration, the Transit Board last week approved the recommendation to build a tunnel and station shell—as opposed to a complete and operational tunnel and station. Once this revised project is completed at the end of 2008, we hope that a third party can finish the station if/when funding becomes available. All other work on the station proper will be halted until then. The above-ground development, of which CTA is not a part, will continue.

I made it clear at the Transit Board meeting and to the media that this choice is extremely regrettable and disappointing. This is obviously not the outcome the Board envisioned when we authorized the Block 37 project four years ago, nor is it how we expect CTA’s precious public resources to be used.

Since our initial authorization, as President Huberman discovered and made clear to us, there were three primary factors that lead us to today’s problems: escalating construction market costs (fuel, concrete, steel), unforeseen site conditions (massive amounts of previous construction debris), and logistical challenges at the construction site (two contractors for CTA and the above-ground development and all their heavy equipment working side-by-side in a limited space). Despite this very disappointing situation, I am grateful that President Huberman and his team took a long hard look at the project when he became President and tried to find a way to salvage it cost effectively. The Transit Board agrees with him that this is the only way we can avoid, in the words of Director Zagotta, “throwing good money after bad.” Simply walking away from the project would have proven more costly to CTA and not given us any options for future work at the station. Once the station shell and tunnel work are completed, we will have a valuable asset that at later date can generate revenue for CTA.

I want to also reiterate my skepticism of using an eventual CTA station below Block 37 for some kind of express service to Midway and O’Hare with CTA’s current system. Both when this aspect of the project was first floated four years ago and again now, it just doesn’t make sense to me to propose such a capital-intensive and ambitious project that will require a major reconfiguration of CTA service and infrastructure. If there develops a sound, responsible plan to make express service work that fits within CTA’s strategic priorities, I’ll take a look, but until then I remain skeptical.

So, with this project effectively on hold, we can shift focus to slow zones mitigation, replacing aging buses, updating signal systems, and investing in other improvements to our existing system.