Above: Before & After: Ashland Avenue at Polk. (Courtesy Chicago Transit Authority)

Chicago officials released details Friday about a much-anticipated project to roll out bus rapid transit along Ashland Avenue, a major arterial street that runs north-south a bit more than a mile and half west of downtown. Previous plans from the city included a route on Western Avenue as well, but a statement from the Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago Department of Transportation revealed only plans for Ashland.

The $50 million project would reserve one lane in each direction as dedicated bus routes on a 5.3-mile leg between 31st and Cortland streets, leaving cars with just one parking lane and one traffic lane on each side of Ashland. That would eliminate left turns from some points along the avenue, to be revealed at a later date.

Future phases would extend the route to 95th Street and Irving Park Road, connecting to seven CTA ‘L’ stops and two Metra stations. Registering 10 million boardings in 2012, Ashland has the highest bus ridership of all CTA routes.

The Active Transportation Alliance posted this useful graphic on BRT in the high-demand corridors.

Interested citizens are encouraged to stay involved and contact transit officials with comments as additional analyses are performed in 2013. Depending on funding, final designs could be realized next year.

Above: Before & After: Ashland Avenue at Chicago. (Courtesy Chicago Transit Authority)