Hope for the Chokepoint City?
JIM OBERSTAR’S RUN ENDED 18 MONTHS AGO. AFTER 36
years of representing the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Capitol Hill, the
Minnesota Democrat went down to defeat by Republican Chip
Cravaack, a political novice (and Tea Party favorite), in the November
2010 mid-term elections.
His departure was lamented by colleagues on both sides of the
political aisle and by those with an interest in transportation policy.
Widely recognized as one of the most transportation-savvy people to
ever hold a seat in Congress, Oberstar served on the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for his entire tenure,
including a stint as committee chairman from 2007 to 2011.
Last month, Oberstar returned to Washington as
a private citizen to address the Legislative Policy
Forum hosted by the National Industrial
Transportation League. During his 40-plus minute,
largely off-the-cuff keynote address, the former
congressman demonstrated an extraordinary grasp
of the nation’s transportation needs and challenges
as well as their implications for America’s economic future.
As an example of the problems we face, he pointed to the notorious rail bottleneck in Chicago.
“Something is wrong,” Oberstar said, “when it takes
36 hours and costs $300 to move a container from
the West Coast to the west side of Chicago, another
$300 and another 30 hours to move it to the east
side of Chicago, and then $200 and 24 hours to move it from Chicago
to the East Coast.”
Something is indeed wrong, and it is not a metropolitan, or even a
regional, problem. It is a national problem. A recent study estimated
that as much as 25 percent of all rail freight in the United States
moves through Chicago, and six of the country’s seven largest rail-
roads run through the city. The delays not only cause headaches, but
also hinder the rail industry’s ability to provide the kind of service its
customers need to compete in a global economy.
As for why the Windy City has turned into the Chokepoint City,
there are many reasons. Part of it’s politics. Part of it’s money—or as
The New York Times recently put it, “a nation’s general disinclination
to improve its roads, bridges, and rails.” And part of it is simply the
result of a track system that’s grown up since the 19th century with
little coordination among the railroads and the city.
Will the situation ever change? Well, there is hope. In 2003, a consortium of private companies and local, state, and federal agencies
launched a $3 billion partnership known as the
CREATE (Chicago Region Environmental and
Transportation Efficiency) Program. Its aim is
to bring order to the chaos that is Chicago’s rail
system.
A daunting task, no doubt, but not impossible.
Just weeks before Oberstar’s address in
The Alameda Corridor consists of a series of bridges, under-passes, and overpasses designed
to separate freight trains from
street traffic and passenger
trains. The project’s centerpiece
is the Mid-Corridor Trench, a
below-ground rail line for freight
trains that runs for 10 miles
between Route 91 in Carson and
25th Street in Los Angeles.
Prior to the project’s completion, trains on the four low-
speed branch lines that were eventually consolidated onto the corridor had to cross more than
200 at-grade crossings and traveled at an average
speed of 10 to 15 mph. It was common for
motorists to wait 20 to 30 minutes for a 6,000-
foot-long train to pass. The Alameda Corridor
eliminated conflicts at those 200 crossings. Trains
now zip through the corridor at an average speed
of 40 mph.
Here’s hoping that Chicago can replicate
Southern California’s success—and put its days
as the Chokepoint City firmly behind it.
