Passenger Trains > Chicago Union Station Update: Madison St. Entrance Closed

The on-going falling concrete issue at Chicago Union Station led to the closure of the Madison Street Entrance this afternoon. Coupled with the construction on Adams Street led to quite a pedestrain jam for this evening's commute.
From Metra Website:Metra Alert - Union Station Madison Street Entrance Closed Until Further Notice & Track #5, #7 & #9 Will Be Out Of ServiceMetra Chicago Union Station customers, Please be advised that the Madison Street entrance has been closed for repairs and inspections until further notice. In addition, tracks #5, #7 and #9 on the North Concourse will remain out of service through this evening. Metra customers who normally enter or exit Union Station from Madison Street should use the entrance at Adams, Jackson, Canal or Clinton. Please allow yourself additional time to reach your boarding platform. Metra will update this site once new information becomes available.Neil Steinberg's column in the SunTimes today: http://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/steinberg-chasing-the-elusive-butterfly-of-responsibility/

This ought to get interesting.

New Metropolitan lounge, cleaned up Great Hall with a customer service kiosk and Legacy Lounge, but nobody noticed the platform ceilings are literally crumbling.

Who cares about the passengers and their safety when we can make it look pretty?

 

The Madison St. entrance was already looking kind of sad with construction, now this.

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mp51w Wrote:
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> The Madison St. entrance was already looking kind
> of sad with construction, now this.

That construction is to replace the badly deteriorated steps and stone pavers from Madison down to the "concourse" that leads to the stairs down to platform level. This is work that was long overdue.

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> New Metropolitan lounge, cleaned up Great Hall
> with a customer service kiosk and Legacy Lounge,
> but nobody noticed the platform ceilings are
> literally crumbling.
>
> Who cares about the passengers and their safety
> when we can make it look pretty?
>
>  

In the Navy there was (maybe still is) a sarcastic adage that reflects the same misplaced priorities:   "RUN SHE MAY-- SHINE SHE MUST"

Fritz in HSV, AL