Transport representatives support extension of bus route 9 Ashland, transport committee approves it

On Wednesday, the City Council’s Transportation and Public Ways Committee discussed the CTA’s proposal to extend bus route 9 Ashland Avenue (1600 W.) one mile north to Lawrence Avenue (4800 N.).

The bus route currently turns east onto Irving Park Road (4000 N.) and then ends at Belle Plaine Avenue (4100 N.) and Clark Street (here about 1330 W.) in front of Graceland Cemetery.

The new route will instead continue north to Wilson Avenue (4600 W.), then west to Ravenswood Avenue (1800 W.), then north to the Ravenswood Metra Union Pacific North Line station. The X9 extension is scheduled to begin service on August 25, 2024, while maintaining existing service frequency.

The existing Ashland Express X9 service will remain unchanged, traveling east on Irving Park to Broadway (860 W.).

Ten new bus stops will be built this summer, which normally involves the conversion of about four parking spaces. At the same time, the removal of the existing Belle Plaine/Clark terminal will free up about 100 parking spaces on Clark Street.

And next year, the new Ashland stops will get “bus bulls,” sidewalk extensions that reduce the “dwell time” buses spend on and shorten pedestrian crossings. This will also allow about 12 parking spaces to be restored because less space will be needed for the bus stops.

This expanded bus route will help close an existing service gap between north and south, according to the CTA. It will serve 21,500 more residents and create 15,000 more jobs. However, some neighbors have made dubious claims that more bus service would lead to more congestion, pollution and crime in the neighborhood, so transportation advocates showed up at today’s hearing to voice their support.

The meeting was held at City Hall and was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. However, some of the panelists were late because a previous hearing had taken a long time, so the transportation meeting did not start until about 1.5 hours later. Unfortunately, this meant that some of the people who had already registered to testify had to leave the event because of work or other commitments.

Still, many people stayed to voice their opinions, such as Rory Gilchrist, a Lincoln Square resident who works in neighboring Uptown and is a strong supporter of the Ashland extension. “As far as this project is concerned… the current approach (turning east at Irving Park) is a relic of the days when Uptown still had streetcars, and today’s No. 9 bus follows the route of a technology long gone,” he said. “We should not let these planning decisions hamper our progress in the present.”

“We believe this expansion should be a model for the future,” said Michael Podgers, policy director for the grassroots advocacy group Better Streets Chicago. “Last week, the CTA announced its Bus Visioning Project, which is designed to identify service changes in new routings across the system,” he said. “This long-awaited, practical change proposed for the Ashland No. 9 bus is needed across the system to improve service and expand mobility.”

Regarding neighbors’ complaints about the plan, Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Andre Vasquez (40th) said he was reminded of something a former colleague had said to him: “Everyone wants to see progress, but nobody likes to see change.”

“I think that’s a lot of what we’re recognizing here,” Vasquez added. “Everyone wants the roads fixed, but nobody wants the roads Firmly (under construction). So I think what we’ve accomplished is an improvement that benefits not only the people in the (40th and 47th Wards), but people all over the city. They need to get to work, they need to reach the people they want to connect with, and they need to do it in many different ways, and so I want to encourage our colleges to help us do that. I will do that.”

Following the comments, there was a vote where committee members approved the project. A full vote of the City Council is needed to complete the project. The next council meeting will be next Wednesday, July 17, at 10 a.m. at City Hall. If you would like to provide public comment in support of the Ashland expansion, view the testimony transcripts here.

You can read more about the bus lane plan here.

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