Northern delights: Amtrak s new Borealis Chicago - Twin Cities service launches May 21 streetsblog.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from streetsblog.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
But yesterday there was a light in the tunnel (although the line doesn't operate as a subway) for restoring service, with new statements from NTSB and CTA.
Igor Studenkov, Author at Oak Park oakpark.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from oakpark.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When Dave Casper, CEO of BMO Financial Group’s U.S. operations, said that the current, mostly online state of office work was “not the new normal” but “abnormal,” and that “We’re getting back to normal, and normal is getting back to the office,” the conference room at Metra’s 49th Street Training Center, located just east of the Dan Ryan, erupted in applause.
“Trust me, not everybody is as enthusiastic,” he responded.
But if there was one common theme at the March 11 Safe Return to Work Summit, it was that online meetings couldn’t replace in-person interactions, and that companies should try to reinstate some form of in-person work as soon as it’s safe to do so. The event was organized by the Metra and the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago to discuss what the commuter railroad and office building landlords are doing to make it safer for companies to bring their employees back to their offices. They argued that cleaning procedures, better
Earlier this week Streetsblog’s covered the controversy over the Illinois Department of Transportation’s plans to relocate a section of the Illinois Prairie Path in west-suburban Hillside as a safety strategy. From reading the piece, which I edited, you might have gotten the impression that former Ashland Avenue bus rapid transit opponent Roger Romanelli, who’s using the bike trail project as a campaign issue in his run for village trustee, is the only party in the wrong here. Romanelli is pushing an alternative to the trail relocation that wouldn’t fully address existing path safety issues.
But IDOT’s plan is also far from ideal. So if we really care about improving safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists, the real solution is a third option, which I’ll discuss in a bit.