Evanston Residents To Weigh In On Possible New Yellow Line Stop
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- The City of Evanston is gathering input on adding an intermediate station along the CTA Yellow Line, which currently passes on through without stopping on its way to Skokie.
Starting Friday, Evanston residents may take an online survey to voice their comments on a site for the new stop, which could be constructed at Dodge Avenue, Asbury Avenue or Ridge Avenue.
In an earlier survey, 69 percent of respondents said they would use a stop at Dodge Avenue, 41 percent at Asbury Avenue, and 27 percent at Ridge Avenue.
The Yellow Line runs on the far southern edge of Evanston near Mulford Street. Dodge and Asbury avenues are the Evanston extensions of Chicago's California and Western avenues, respectively.
For nearly 50 years, the Yellow Line has only been a shuttle between the Skokie terminal at Dempster Street west of Skokie Boulevard to the Howard terminal in Rogers Park, where it connects to Purple and Red line 'L' trains.
But the CTA is constructing an intermediate Oakton-Skokie stop in downtown Skokie, with an at-grade, accessible entrance at Oakton Street and Skokie Boulevard. It is set to be complete by the end of next year.
In its earliest days as the Niles Center Line, what is now the Yellow Line had active stops at all three prospective Evanston sites, as well as at Crawford Avenue-East Prairie Road, Kostner Avenue, Oakton Street and Main Street in Skokie, the Web site Chicago-L.org recalls.
The CTA discontinued service on the line was discontinued in the late 1940s, although it was still used by another line, the North Shore Line interurban, until 1963. When the CTA rehabbed and reopened the line as the Skokie Swift in 1964, only the Howard and Dempster Street-Skokie terminals remained.
Plans are also under discussion to extend the Yellow Line to the Old Orchard shopping center, although those plans are currently on hold.
