At the November 2017 HPCC Meeting, the Port Authority gathered feedback from Highland Park residents on a set of possible routing options for the end-of-the-line turnaround patterns for the 71A and the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line, which will eventually replace the current 71B. Minutes from the meeting are available here, and will also be published in the December HPCC Newsletter. This meeting was the fourth in a series of meetings on this subject over the course of the past year. A previous blog post outlining more of the history of this process can be found here.
Currently, the 71A and 71B follow this routing pattern:
Based on the feedback gathered at the November meeting further technical technical assessments, the Port Authority has decided to leave the routing basically unchanged, except that they plan to eliminate the occasional layover of buses on Mellon Terrace:
As mentioned above, the Port Authority made this determination based on a combination of technical and engineering considerations, as well as the survey responses from the meeting, in which 68% of attendees preferred the current routing, and 32% preferred one of several other alternatives.
Now that they have made a determination on routing, the Port Authority will move on to more detailed design work around bus stops and shelters, and will be returning to Highland Park for another presentation on these issues in spring 2018. The Port Authority representatives who attended the November Meeting have also assured the HPCC that all of the safety concerns expressed at the meeting, including buses not stopping at all stop signs, honking unnecessarily, and idling outside of designated areas were reported to the Port Authority Safety team.
Thank you to all who participated in this process, and to the Port Authority for working with the HPCC to ensure residents had an opportunity to give input on this important issue. If you have any questions, please contact HPCC President Jake Pawlak at jacob.pawlak@gmail.com