CTA SKOKIE SWIFT TO ADD OAKTON STREET STATION IN DOWNTOWN SKOKIE - NEW EVANSTON STATION MAY FOLLOW!
OAKTON STATION DESIGN TO BEGIN LATER THIS MONTH - POSSIBLE EVANSTON STATION UNDER CONSIDERATION!
Look on the web under Chicago & North Shore Railroad, you'll find, as recently as the early 1960's, the line now know as the CTA Yellow Line, or Skokie Swift, had several intermediate stops in Evanston and Skokie IL. Eventually, the old North Shore Line ended up in Milwaukee WI - but that service stopped in 1963.
The old Oakton Street Station, closest to Downtown Skokie IL, featured a coffee shop and newsstand. That station closed when the old North Shore stopped running, and the station was subsequently demolished.
Today, Downtown Skokie is awash with new condos, townhouses, and a slew of new businesses. Residents and businessmen working for a new Oakton Station will soon be getting their wish, as designs on a recently-approved station will be considered on August 27th. Construction will begin next year, with the station opening, hopefully, by 2010.
At the same time, plans are being made for a second intermediate Skokie Swift stop - perhaps at Asbury Avenue, Dodge Street, or Ridge Boulevard - in the North Chicago Suburb of Evanston. Actual approval and implementation for the new Evanston service has not yet been set, but Evanston officials project strong demand for the service among transit riders. (Evanston already has El service via the Purple Line, between Howard Street at the Chicago City Limits, up to Linden Avenue in Wilmette.)
"I can think of no better project than one that increases transit ridership and mobility by simply opening up access to an existing passenger rail line that today runs through the city of Evanston without opening its doors," Evanston Public Works Director John Burke said. In a press release, Burke said another study found Evanston residents would add 1,000 people to the Yellow Line's daily ridership. CTA officials say weekday ridership is now about 1,800.
Read more about the CTA Skokie Swift Service Changes, as well as plans to extend the current experiment of weekend service on The Swift, in Emily Achenbaum's story in yesterday's Chicago Tribune.
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