Cab stand relocation puts drivers, passengers up the creek on Canal
UNION STATION | Cab stand relocation creates quandary for drivers, passengers
Chicago cabdrivers are fuming about a street reconfiguration that's costing them sorely needed business: the relocation of a Canal Street cab stand serving Union Station.
The cab stand used to be located right outside the door of Union Station. Now, it's on the other side of the street, but there's no pedestrian cross walk in the middle of the block.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)
That leaves passengers several options, none of them convenient. They can either: walk a half-block in either direction and use the crosswalks at Jackson or Adams; take the pedestrian tunnel beneath Canal and double-back, or cross at mid-block against the traffic, a dangerous and illegal maneuver that risks a jaywalking citation.
Unwilling to accept any of those choices, some passengers simply jump in a cab that's dropping somebody else off at the station, infuriating cabbies waiting patiently at the cab stand. Other passengers attempt to grab a cab from the end of the line because they crossed at the wrong corner. That could touch off arguments between cabbies.
"They're forcing people to walk across the middle of the street with luggage. Maybe they're elderly and can't walk fast. Maybe they have kids with them," said veteran cabdriver Arnie Kast.
"The cab stand was right there for all those years. It never represented a problem. Now, they have created a problem where none exists. Does it hurt me business-wise? Sure it hurts me. Do you think people are gonna walk across and put their lives at risk? No. The majority of 'em will walk."
Transportation Department spokesman Brian Steele said the cab stand shift was necessitated by the Jackson viaduct project.
Last month, Jackson was closed from Canal to Wacker, prompting the city to reconfigure Canal to accommodate an influx of traffic.
A dedicated CTA bus lane that ran against the flow of traffic was eliminated, with all traffic now moving northbound. The east side of the street where the cab stand used to be is now reserved for buses, pick-ups and drop-offs and has a space for disabled drop-offs, he said.
"We made that move to try to safely balance all of the traffic that uses that block," Steele said.