Transportation

Food | Food Issue 2019 | Transportation

Fueling Up

The Weekly reviews small-shop restaurants attached to South Side gas stations

by and 4 months ago

Haley Tweedell

Last summer, as a friend and I were leaving Lansing for Chicago, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the tank and stock up on our standard road trip fare. Between the two of us, that usually means Combos, Takis, sour gummy worms, and trail mix. But when we walked in, we found a Cuban sandwich bar with a full menu at the back of the Mobil shop, and who were we to choose a bag of chemical cheese pretzels over a $6 roast pork sandwich? (The sandwich was delicious. We still bought Combos for the road.) Ever since then, I’ve been haunted by the possibility that behind every unopened gas station door is a non-Subway food operation that is somewhere on the spectrum between decent and delicious. Here are some of the doors the Weekly has opened for the Food Issue. (Emeline Posner)

Transportation

Reaching Transit Equity, One Bike Ride at a Time

Olatunji Oboi Reed’s plan for Equiticity

by 2 years ago

Tyler Nickell

The tight gripping of the handles, the wind blowing in your face, the freedom of cruising down a rocky trail—what’s not to enjoy about bicycling? Growing up in Chatham, riding bikes was always the natural way to get around for Olatunji Oboi Reed when he was young. But as he grew older, and as cars became the norm among his peers, Reed slowly began abandoning his bicycle in favor of the increased independence and speed of the car.

Opinions & Editorials | Politics | Transportation

The Metra’s Not-So-Electric Plan

The Metra can and should increase service across the South Side, and not just to Hyde Park

by 2 years ago 4 Comments

Ellen Hao / The Chicago Dispatch

Metra’s plan to enhance Electric District service to Hyde Park has provoked chatter on the South Side and beyond since its announcement in May. Is the return of frequent, quality service on the Electric close at hand? Unfortunately, it seems that the current plan misses many opportunities and takes as many steps backward as it does forward.

Nature Issue 2017 | Transportation

When Will Divvy Be For Everyone?

The city’s bikeshare program faces stagnant growth south of Roosevelt

by 2 years ago

Tony Webster

Over the past year, the city’s Divvy bike share program—one of the largest in North America—has added over a hundred stations across the city, dozens of them on the South Side. A year ago, the last time the Weekly reported on Divvy’s service of the South Side, we found that South Siders accounted for just a twentieth of total riders. At that time, Divvy had recently announced its expansion, so there was some cause for optimism—perhaps the city would successfully replicate the dense network of popular stations in the North Side and portions of the West Side and the statistics would improve.

Transportation

Moving Forward

CTA secures $75 million in funding for Red Line Extension studies

by 3 years ago

Katie Bart

As the year comes to an end, the Chicago Transit Authority is preparing for a changing of the guard at the federal level, and city officials are doing everything they can to secure funds for high-cost ventures before President Barack Obama leaves office. The Far South Side expansion of the Red Line, however, will have to wait another year, well into a Donald Trump presidency, to secure federal funding.

Roseland | Transportation

Tracking the Red Line Extension

At public hearing in Roseland, residents discuss the project’s impact

by 3 years ago 1 Comment

Katie Bart

On November 1, the St. John Missionary Baptist Church on 115th Street in Roseland became the forum for discussions that could shape the future of the area for years to come—with changes potentially rippling across the entire South Side. Community members, CTA officials, and organizers came together for the only public hearing on the environmental impact statement for the Red Line extension project, the details of which were announced in late September. “The draft environmental impact statement looks closely at the potential benefits and impacts of both the east and west options,” says Jeffery Tolman, a spokesperson for the CTA, referring to two possible routes for the extended Red Line.“The public meeting was to seek out the community’s feedback.” The final route and impact statement will be unveiled in 2017, Tolman says.

Politics | Transportation

Extending the Red Line, At Last

A long-awaited project aims to improve transit and development on the Far South Side

by 3 years ago 1 Comment

Kate Bart

For years, talk of extending the Red Line to Chicago’s southern-most limits was an urban legend. Longtime African-American residents of the South Side discussed it, but nothing has happened since the public train line, which runs along the city’s north-south racial divide, began operating in 1969.