The last post explored the north/south lines proposed in Kelker's 1923 transit plan for Chicago. The lines would have represented a departure from the hub-and-spoke structure that the trains had followed to that point. For the most part the lateral proposals below are directed into the central business district, and to that extent expand the hub-and-spoke structure.
The first proposed line is one that ultimately was (in modified form) completed. To this point the Blue Line on Milwaukee Avenue entered the Loop by turning south at about Paulina and heading down to the Marshfield Junction in the current Medical District and thence down Van Buren into the Loop. An elevated track following Milwaukee south to Lake/Milwaukee was proposed. From Lake/Milwaukee the trains could enter the Loop. Ultimately the Milwaukee/Dearborn subway was built instead of the proposed elevated. The direct link down Milwaukee to the Loop was so logical that it was probably going to happen no matter what.
The second proposed line is also one that was ultimately built in modified form. Of course, it was not completed until 1984. The proposal was to build an elevated line out Milwaukee Avenue to Northwest Highway (near today's Jefferson Park Transit Center), thence out Northwest Highway to approximately Devon. Of course, in 1923 they could not know that the Kennedy Expressway and O'Hare would be built, and that the train would eventually follow the expressway from Logan Square to O'Hare. I guess the routing of the Kennedy is for a future entry.
Sticking with the northwest side theme, the third proposed addition was an elevated train running from North/Lawndale to North/Harlem at the city limit. At this point there was a line that ran from the Damen (Robey in those days) stop on the Blue Line through the alley north of North all the way to Lawndale. Unfortunately the line saw limited service and was eventually destroyed. While the decision probably was rational at the time, the transit options for Humboldt Park and communities west of it would have been a tremendous boon to the area during the property boom in the 1990s and 2000s.
The final northwest side proposal would have built an entirely new elevated line from the new northern extension at Milwaukee/Belmont west along Belmont to the city limit at Cumberland/Belmont. Even today Cumberland and Belmont has . . . nothing. A cemetery, a golf course, and a forest preserve is about it. Honestly, this is another line that seems more valuable from a symmetry perspective than to actually take people to or from anywhere. Also, about another mile west there are a number of heavy rail lines in Franklin Park that go directly to the Loop.
On the northwest side this proposal would have a trains at Milwaukee, Belmont, and North Avenue, and running down Kedzie. This would represent a dramatic increase in train access on the northwest side. However, again it should be noted that the area is criss-crossed with heavy rail access, including stops at Montrose/Cicero, Irving Park/Avondale, Milwaukee/Kostner, Cicero/Grand, Austin/Northwest Highway, Jefferson Park, Western/Grand and others. The area is actually swimming with trains, just not of the 'L' variety. This was also true in 1923. This seems to me to render the proposed Belmont Line moot.
On the southwest side an entirely new elevated route was proposed for Archer Avenue from Ashland/31st (where it would have met the new Ashland line) to Archer/Harlem. Interestingly, this line was also built, although in a modified form. Instead of building above Archer Avenue the line was eventually built on railroad right-of-way parallel to the Stevenson Expressway. Also, instead of terminating at Harlem the train goes to Midway Airport between Cicero and Central. This is the first line in this proposal that would have gone very near to Midway. However, we did surmise an eventual Cicero line in the last post . . .
As a sort of parallel to the northwest side lines at North and Belmont, an elevated line was proposed to follow 63rd street from Loomis/63rd (ending the Englewood Branch of the Green Line) west to Austin. This line would hit the southern edge of an eventual Midway Airport. Of course, without Midway it is not clear to me whether there is any reason to go from Loomis/63rd to Austin/63rd.
Finally a subway line was proposed going from the new Ashland L in Pilsen (Ashland/Cermak/Blue Island) to Chicago/Milwaukee following Blue Island to Harrison to Wells to Chicago. The Wells portion from Harrison to Chicago would have passed through the Loop under the west edge of the Loop and left rapid transit access in the Loop at Michigan, Wabash, State, and Wells (above or below ground) as well as Lake and Van Buren. In addition, this route almost mirrors the Paulina to Marshfield Junction route that would still be available. It should also be noted that this line would have gone directly under Greektown and Little Italy and eventually, if UIC were still built there, UIC.
With some significant exceptions the proposed lateral lines were (a) actually built, and (b) seem to make more sense. Of course, this may reflect the fact that Chicago has still not abandoned the hub-and-spoke model for rapid transit. It is possible that corridors like 63rd Street, Halsted, Ashland, and Kedzie would have developed differently if they had direct rail access to other, non-Loop parts of the city. My suspicion is that the system would have been severely underutilized, since even in 1923 there does not seem to have been a strong demand to traverse these streets from end to end. However, I often think the same thing of some of the more apparently random subway lines in New York, but they stay open (I'm looking at you A Line).
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