Last July, City Hall broke the news that the construction of the $32.5 million downtown BRT corridor, featuring bus-only lanes, pre-paid, level boarding, traffic-signal prioritization and other timesaving goodies, was being delayed. That spurred concerns that the project might not happen at all. Fortunately, in September, CDOT announce that it was bidding out the BRT construction contract, as well as the contract for the $43 million Union Station Transit Center, and the $75 million Washington/Wabash El station. Work on all three will start by March 31. The speedy bus route should shave 7.5 minutes off the trip across the Loop. One kvetch: the ninety-foot-long BRT stations will feature fourteen-foot-tall canopies with a glass rear wall that stops several feet before the roof. That will be highly annoying on windy, rainy days.
Canal, Washington, Madison and Clinton, between Union Station and Michigan
