Many Sloopin readers preferred a stop at 18th, but we've read that it's not feasible? For more on that, here you go:
The main problem is that a station at 18th would sit just next to the point in the CTA system where the Orange Line splits off to the southwest of the Green Line, according to the CTA’s manager of planning, Joe Iacobucci. Putting a new stop in at 18th would require a completely new switching mechanism — including requiring an employee to run what’s now an automatic switch.
“The new switch would have to be manned,” Iacobucci said at the meeting. “It would cause additional complications with a system that runs pretty smoothly right now.”
Additionally, since there used to be a Green Line station at Cermak, the CTA has the rights to enough land around the proposed site to build a new station without having to buy any land. At 18th, the CTA would have to buy property in order to build a new station — the right of way is at least 10 feet too narrow to build a station there now, Iacobucci said.
Beyond that, the Cermak stop makes sense for many reasons including the city's plan for Motor Row and McCormick Place.
