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Uptown residents tell CTA ADA committee missing bus stop forces long walks for seniors and people with disabilities
Summary
A resident delegation told the Chicago Transit Authority ADA advisory committee that a southbound Route 36 stop at Montrose and Broadway removed six years ago forces many Uptown seniors and people with disabilities to walk about 1,000 feet to reach their building. CTA staff said they would investigate and follow up with the speaker.
Petros, a resident of an Uptown apartment building, told the Chicago Transit Authority ADA Advisory Committee that CTA removed the southbound Route 36 bus stop at Montrose and Broadway about six years ago and that the change has forced many residents — including a large number of seniors and people who rely on canes or walkers — to walk roughly 1,000 feet to reach their homes instead of the roughly 200 feet they had before.
The residents formed a committee in October and gathered more than 100 signatures and endorsements from 17 local businesses supporting restoration of the stop. Petros said he submitted those petitions to his alderman’s office and, after informing the alder’s office that he planned to speak to the committee, received notice that CTA had agreed to “look into” the request but that he had seen no further progress.
The issue matters to Uptown tenants with mobility limitations because the difference between a 200-foot and 1,000-foot walk can be the difference between an accessible trip and a trip that a person must avoid. Petros told the committee the group wanted CTA to review whether operational decisions are inadvertently reducing access for ADA-covered riders in Uptown and elsewhere.
Irma Gomez Ferro, ADA compliance manager at CTA, told the committee staff has Petros’s contact information and would take a look at the specific stop. “So we will take a look into this, bus stop relocation is within the department planning information…so it’s within my apartment,” Irma said on the record, repeating the route and location given by Petros: southbound Route 36 at Montrose and Broadway. Irma said CTA would follow up with him.
Committee members asked a few clarifying questions about the route and the location while offering support for CTA examining operational processes to avoid unintended access impacts. The public comment portion ended after the committee confirmed staff would investigate and follow up.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the item; CTA staff said they would review the petition and investigate the bus-stop relocation within CTA planning processes and get back to Petros and the committee.
