Heart of Lincoln Land

Yay! I have all 88 of the pictures now. I took the last one on Monday, and the nice days at the beginning of last week enabled me to take many of the remaining 23 pictures. I took over 7000 pictures while working on this project. Of those, only 262 turned out good enough for me to use for this project (for some of the 88 shots, more than one turned out good – but it’s nice to have a choice in case something doesn’t work out right). Now comes the task of updating my 80s music database and making the CDs themselves. I also want to make a photo tour of Springfield with the pictures – they provide a good portrait of Mr. Lincoln’s home town during the year of his Bicentennial.

I’m glad I was able to complete the project this year. It’s hard work, doing lots of walking around downtown, through historic neighborhoods, and crisscrossing the city to get pictures in neighborhoods on different sides of town. And sometimes it can be frustrating, when you don’t get a shot and then you have to take it again, or when the weather doesn’t cooperate. But it was fun, and it was worth it in the end.

I originally intended to show Springfield in the summer, and I tried to keep that theme as much as I could, but because it lasted so far into October some fall color crept into the later pictures. Still looks neat, though. Perhaps in a subsequent year, I will capture all of the shots in the summer.

The last 23 pictures are:

* Skyline from the 500 block of East Madison Street: This picture was taken from the top level of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum parking ramp. You can get a beautiful view of the city from here. The picture is aimed down 6th Street towards the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, where you can see the entrances of both. You can also see some of the buildings on the east side of 6th Street, such as the Illinois Building and the Springfield Marine Bank, and the Hilton and President Abraham Lincoln hotels.

* 900 block of South 2nd Street, Looking South from Canedy Street: This shot represents the Aristocracy Hill neighborhood, just to the south of downtown. This neighborhood contains many Lincoln era houses, including some on this block, and is a diverse, though upscale neighborhood. Technically, the Vachel Lindsay Home and the Lincoln Home are both part of this neighborhood as well. The neighborhood was named Aristocracy Hill because the Governor’s Mansion is located within it.

* 500 block of South Walnut Street, Looking South from Governor Street: This shot represents the Pasfield House neighborhood, just to the west of downtown. Most of the homes in this neighborhood were built just after Lincoln’s time. It is an upscale neighborhood containing large houses and big trees. There is a small Civil War museum on the right (west) side of the street, at the Governor Street intersection.

* Lincoln Totem Pole: So, what’s this doing outside the Illinois State Museum? After Lincoln’s assassination, the Tongass tribe of Indians in southeast Alaska adopted the Lincoln story as tribal legend. The story goes that when Alaska was purchased and became a U.S. territory, slaves among the Indian tribes there were freed by Lincoln’s acts as President. To commemorate the event, the tribe erected a totem pole in his honor. The original pole is now in a museum in Juneau, Alaska (after having been moved from Saxman, Alaska), and a copy is in the Illinois State Museum. This one outside the museum is a fiberglass replica of the totem pole. It is 50 feet tall and the carved statue of Lincoln on the top is 5 feet 10 inches tall (6 inches short of Lincoln’s 6 foot 4 inch height). I suspect a lot of people don’t notice this pole (it’s by the parking lot, near the Spring and Edwards intersection), but it goes to show how Lincoln is remembered by many different cultures.

* Skyline from Douglas Park: Through the trees at the southeast corner of this large northwest side park, at Walnut Street and Madison Street, you can see the downtown skyline, which is particularly beautiful during the afternoon and evening. I took the picture during this time. The Hilton, the State Capitol and the Ridgely Building are visible from here.

* 1500 block of South 4th Street, Looking North from Spruce Street: This shot represents the Near South neighborhood, to the south of Aristocracy Hill. This is a middle class neighborhood that was developed around the turn of the 20th century. It has big trees and a diverse range of housing styles, including brick apartment buildings which were a new style of living at the time. The east-west streets in this neighborhood are all named after trees.

* 1800 block of South State Street, Looking South: This narrow tree-lined brick street is located on the southwest side. It contains older, mostly one and a half story middle class homes built in the early 20th century. I’m unsure of the neighborhood name, but this atypical typical block is representative of many neighborhoods in this section of town built at around the same time. There is no cross street dividing the 1700 and 1800 blocks.

* 1400 block of South Lincoln Avenue, Looking North from Leland Avenue: This tree-lined brick street is in one of Springfield’s rich neighborhoods, just to the south of Washington Park, on the west side of the city. Large, old houses and mansions are common in this neighborhood. The neighborhood was developed at around the turn of the 20th century. This shot looks north towards Washington Park, visible in the distance.

* Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon: This is in the western portion of Washington Park, a very large 280 acre west side park. It is one of the largest carillons in the world. It contains 67 bells and is over 12 stories tall. Concerts are held here during the summer and at Christmas time. The carillon was built in 1962.

* Washington Park Gazebo: This is in the eastern portion of Washington Park, near the Lincoln Avenue/South Grand Avenue intersection. It’s surrounded by lots of trees, and a grassy open area. Events are sometimes held here.

* Lake Springfield: This 8-square-mile lake is located on the southeastern edge of the city. The southern and eastern shores of the lake are outside of the city and are still largely undeveloped. The lake is surrounded by parks, and it has beaches, a zoo, and a large nature center (Lincoln Memorial Gardens) along its shores. This shot was taken from Spaulding Dam on the north shore of the lake. It was a nice day to take a picture of the lake, and I got a boater in the picture.

* Skyline from the 800 block of East Madison Street: Taken facing the Old State Capitol, you can also see the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, the State Capitol, the Myers Building, and the Illinois Building from here. I think the fall color made this shot more vibrant than it would have been if it was taken in the summer.

* Lincoln Statue on Lincoln Tomb Upper Deck: This is the oldest Lincoln statue in Springfield. It was dedicated in 1874, when the Lincoln Tomb was finished. It depicts Abraham Lincoln emancipating the slaves, with his arm outstretched and holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since one of the things that made me a Lincoln admirer is emancipation, it is one of my favorite Lincoln statues in the city. Because the statue is up so high, you can see more detail in the picture than you can with your eyes alone.

* Governor’s Mansion: This beautiful Georgian mansion, located on the block bounded by 4th, 5th, Jackson, and Edwards Streets, was built in 1855, and is the 3rd largest governor’s mansion in the country. The grounds of the mansion are beautifully landscaped with trees and fountains. Joel Matteson was the first governor to reside here. Lincoln attended many events here. The mansion is open for tours and it contains several Lincoln-related artifacts, including paintings and a sculpture.

* Brinkerhoff Home: This is a big, beautiful house on the north end near Lincoln Park, on the Springfield College campus. It was built in 1869. The home is surrounded by lots of trees and sits at the top of a big hill. Events related to Springfield history occur here.

* Lincoln Tomb: The final resting place of Abraham Lincoln. It is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery, a large, beautiful, peaceful 365-acre cemetery on the north end. It is the largest cemetery in Illinois and the second most visited in the country. The Tomb itself is 117 feet tall. It was designed by Larkin Mead of Vermont. Outside is the famous bust where people love to rub Lincoln’s nose, and it contains a statue of Lincoln and four statues depicting the Civil War on its upper deck. There are 50 state shields carved into the tomb, in the order in which they came into the Union. Inside the tomb are 9 “statuettes” of Abraham Lincoln, which are all replicas of Lincoln statues elsewhere. In addition to Mr. Lincoln, Mary and the Lincolns’ sons Willie, Tad, and Eddie are buried here. Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

* 1200 block of North Monument Avenue, Looking North from North Grand Avenue: This shot represents the Oak Ridge neighborhood on the north end, north of Enos Park. It is a middle class neighborhood built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This street is a tree-lined boulevard with historic streetlights and brick landscaping that leads into Oak Ridge Cemetery.

* Inside the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices: This picture was taken in the law office of Lincoln and Herndon in the back of the Tinsley Building on the third floor. This office was used by Lincoln from about 1849 to 1853.

* It Will Become All One Thing: At the intersection of 1st Street and North Grand Avenue on the north end, there is a small park with benches and a large wooden sign with this unifying quote from Abraham Lincoln’s House Divided speech. The sign is visible as you are going south down Monument towards North Grand Avenue (away from Oak Ridge Cemetery). The area around this small, but beautiful, park contains many big trees, which are visible in the background.

* State Capitol Rotunda: Taken inside the State Capitol facing straight up into the rotunda from the 1st floor. Pretty, isn’t it?

* Inside the Old State Capitol: This picture was taken inside Representatives Hall where Lincoln served in the Legislature. The desk with the hat on it is where Lincoln sat. The desk itself isn’t the actual desk that Lincoln sat at, that is on display in the north side of the room (not in the photo). Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech (among others) underneath the big portrait of George Washington in the center of the room. Today, this room and the Old State Capitol itself is often used for Lincoln-related events. The entire Old State Capitol is open for tours.

* Inside Lincoln’s Home: I had to take two tours of the home to get this shot properly. It can be difficult when you have to stay at the pace of the tour and there are lots of people on the tour. It was taken inside the formal parlor on the north side of Lincoln’s home, which was used for formal events, like when the Republican delegation from Chicago came and told him he had won the 1860 Republican nomination for President. Many of the items in this room (like the couch, and the portable writing desk) are items Lincoln owned.

* Lincoln Family Statue in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum Plaza: The ceremonial 88th shot. I took it on Monday. I always do this one last, it seems like a fitting tribute to Lincoln and Springfield for finishing the project. This life-size statue of Lincoln and his family (including Mary, Willie, Tad, and Robert) inside the central plaza of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is a popular picture-taking spot for tourists. Eddie is not included in the statue since we do not know what he looked like. Behind the Lincolns, a replica of the White House is visible.

The final 23 shots:

Skyline from the 500 block of East Madison Street	900 block of South 2nd Street, Looking South from Canedy Street
500 block of South Walnut Street, Looking South from Governor Street	Lincoln Totem Pole
Skyline from Douglas Park	1500 block of South 4th Street, Looking North from Spruce Street
1800 block of South State Street, Looking South	1400 block of South Lincoln Avenue, Looking North from Leland Avenue
Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon	Washington Park Gazebo
Lake Springfield	Skyline from the 800 block of East Madison Street
Lincoln Statue on Lincoln Tomb Upper Deck	Governor's Mansion
Brinkerhoff Home	Lincoln Tomb
1200 block of North Monument Avenue, Looking North from North Grand Avenue	Inside the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices
It Will Become All One Thing	State Capitol Rotunda
Inside the Old State Capitol	Inside Lincoln's Home
Lincoln Family Statue in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum Plaza

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This is as of Saturday, it doesn’t include anything taken this week. I still intend to finish the project and complete all 88 pictures, a goal towards which I have made significant progress this week. The weather here most of October hasn’t made this project easy (lots of cloudy days) but I’m doing what I can. As soon as I sort out the pictures from the past few days (which had almost perfect weather) I’ll make another post.

The 21 new pictures since the last post on this are:

* Union Square Park: This downtown park, popular with tourists, is across 6th Street from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, which you can see in the distance. It takes up almost an entire city block; Union Station takes up the northern portion of the block, the park takes up the rest. Many Lincoln-related events take place at this park.

* Lincoln Square Apartments: Luxury apartments in a great downtown location. I toured one of these once on the downtown Upper Story Tour, and they are very nice. Maybe someday I’ll live here. The building was built in 1984, though it looks much older than that. It emulates its historic downtown surroundings, as if it’s been there since Lincoln’s time. I took the photo from the 5th/Monroe intersection and captured some of the vibrancy surrounding it.

* (Benjamin) Edwards Place: This mansion in the Enos Park neighborhood is the oldest home still on its original foundation in Springfield. It was built in 1833. It was home to Benjamin Edwards, Ninian Edwards’ brother. The Lincolns were married at Ninian Edwards’ home which was on the 500 block of South 2nd Street where the Centennial/Howlett Building is now. However, the Lincolns visited the Benjamin Edwards home many times and the home was a focal point for activity during Lincoln’s time. The home is open to the public for tours and the Springfield Art Association (which owns the home) occupies an annex.

* Lincoln Park Pavilion: This is in Lincoln Park, a large, beautiful Northend park in a historic neighborhood encompassing over 150 acres. The pavilion in this park looks like an old stone country home on top of a big hill. It is located in the southern portion of the park, and you can see it from the little park road once you get into the park from the southeast entrance near 5th and Black. I took the photo from the grass “staircase” across the park lagoon from the pavilion. I wanted to capture the rural feel of the pavilion in this picture.

* Lincoln Bust at Lincoln Tomb: This is the one where everybody wants to rub his nose. It’s supposed to bring you good luck, and Lincoln’s nose is all shiny from all the rubbing. The bust was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, who also did busts of Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore, in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and in the U.S. Capitol. I took this photo at sunset since I feel it captures the mood of the Lincoln Tomb nicely.

* 400 block of South 8th Street, Looking South from Capitol Avenue: This historic tree-lined street is in the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, preserved to its 1860 appearance. The Lincoln Home itself is visible down the street to your left. It was very difficult to get this shot without people in it.

* Lincoln School: I thought I’d do a school for this project, since a lot of Springfield’s school buildings are historic and have character. I chose this one since not only is it historic, it’s named after Lincoln. It’s located in the Pioneer Park neighborhood. The picture was shot from the 12th/Capitol intersection. This is the only shot in the project that I did on a cloudy day, but I think the clouds made it interesting.

* 700 block of North 5th Street, Looking North from Miller Street: This shot represents the Enos Park neighborhood, a diverse neighborhood just north of downtown. This neighborhood contains many Lincoln-era homes and lots of big trees and large, old colorful houses. There’s lots of character in this neighborhood. This block contains some beautiful old rowhouses, called the Enos Flats, visible on the right side of the street. Also visible are a couple of large brick homes, and a mixture of other historic homes.

* Lincoln Park Bridge: This stone bridge in Lincoln Park is over a century old. It spans the park lagoon, which contains beautiful waterfalls and fountains. It leads into a forest, where a path leads up a giant “grass staircase”. I took a picture of the bridge from opposite the staircase, with the forest visible in the distance behind the lagoon. The bridge has “LINCOLN” and “PARK” carved into the posts at this end (the end opposite the “grass staircase”), visible in the picture.

* State Fairgrounds Main Entrance: This is on 11th Street, at its intersection with Sangamon Avenue. There’s a large statue of Lincoln as a railsplitter just inside the gate. This isn’t my favorite Lincoln sculpture in Springfield (I always thought it was kind of tacky), but it’s still a representation of Lincoln and deserves to be included. I love getting the evening light on this shot – it’s as if the fair is about to begin.

* Adams Street Mall, looking West from 6th Street: Also known as the Old State Capitol Plaza, this busy brick pedestrian mall, which forms the south side of the square, is often used for outdoor events. I took the photo during one of these. The shops and restaurants that line the Adams Street Mall are visible to the left.

* 200 block of South 6th Street, Looking South from Adams Street: This busy downtown block is lined with a variety of shops and restaurants. The Tinsley Building, which contains the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, is visible on the right. To capture the vibrant urban feel I took the picture with people walking down the street.

* 1100 block of South Grand Avenue East, Looking East from 11th Street: This is in Old South Town, a quirky “mini-downtown” district on the near east side that is currently being revitalized. The district is about one mile southeast of downtown. The South Town theater marquee in this district is the oldest theater marquee in Illinois, dating from the 1910s.

* Skyline from 5th and Capitol: The harmony and contrast between nature and the city is visible in this shot. Through the trees, you can see buildings that punctuate the Springfield skyline. Down below, you can see the street, and people walking along it.

* 100 block of North 6th Street, Looking North from Washington Street: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is the edifice that occupies much of the right (east) side of this block, towards the end of it. On the west side of this block, there are shops and restaurants. This block is often busy with tourists and other people milling about. I tried to capture some of this in the shot.

* Skyline from Comer Cox Park: This is a large 40-acre park on the east side, along M.L. King Drive between Capitol Avenue and Washington Street. You can see parts of the skyline from it. The Pioneer Park neighborhood lies between this park and downtown.

* Vachel Lindsay Home: This Lincoln-era home on the 600 block of South 5th Street was home to Springfield poet Vachel Lindsay, who lived here from 1879 until 1931. The home is restored to its appearance during that time. This is also known as the C.M. Smith home, for the name of Lincoln’s brother-in-law, who lived here during Lincoln’s time. The home is owned by the state and is open to the public.

* First Presbyterian Church: This is the church that the Lincolns attended (though Lincoln was never an official member of the church). When Lincoln lived in Springfield, the church was located at 3rd and Washington. It was moved to this location at 7th and Capitol in the 1870s. The new church building incorporates some elements from the old one, though (such as the stained-glass windows). The pew the Lincolns rented is on display here.

* Pasfield House: This large historic house in the Pasfield House neighborhood, just to the west of the State Capitol, functions as a B&B now. It’s not Lincoln-era (it was built in 1896), but it’s still beautiful. As a nice added touch, there is a large color cutout of Abraham Lincoln waving at you from the front porch. I love it and I made sure to capture it in the picture.

* Lincoln Tower Apartments: This large apartment building is conveniently located near the State Capitol. Even though it’s a more modern building, I felt the need to include it as it is another major “downtown living” apartment complex.

* State Library: This beautiful building on the northeast corner of 2nd and Capitol is located across the street from the State Capitol. It houses the State Archives (different from the collection that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library has, which is the Illinois State Historical Library). The names along the top of the building are the names of prominent Illinois authors, writers, and educators.

The 21 new pictures:

Union Square Park	Lincoln Square Apartments
Edwards Place	Lincoln Park Pavilion
Lincoln Bust at Lincoln Tomb	400 block of South 8th Street, Looking South from Capitol Avenue
Lincoln School	700 block of North 5th Street, Looking North from Miller Street
Lincoln Park Bridge	State Fairgrounds Main Entrance
Adams Street Mall, Looking West from 6th Street	200 block of South 6th Street, Looking South from Adams Street
1100 block of South Grand Avenue East, Looking East from 11th Street	Skyline from 5th and Capitol
100 block of North 6th Street, Looking North from Washington Street	Skyline from Comer Cox Park
Vachel Lindsay Home	First Presbyterian Church
Pasfield House	Lincoln Tower Apartments
State Library

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On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered a “few appropriate remarks” at the newly-created national cemetery at Gettysburg. The speech contained only 272 words and lasted maybe 3 minutes, far shy of the main speaker Edward Everett’s speech, which lasted 2 hours. Many people attending the event did not realize that President Lincoln had given a speech until after he had given it.

However, the speech was soon recognized as a masterpiece. It became an eloquent embodiment of the ideas of freedom, democracy, and equality, and of the sacrifices made to maintain, and improve, those things. Down through the ages, its words have been interpreted countless different ways and for many different purposes. It has been memorized by countless schoolchildren, and I can recite it from memory.

Within my lifetime, the words of the Gettysburg Address have been used on both the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and at the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. It’s been used in advertising and in political campaigns and speeches, including Obama’s. The immortal and multicultural nature of the Gettysburg Address inspired me to create this T-shirt.

I made each of the 272 words of the speech (in red on the T-shirt) a different font, to reflect different eras and different cultures. I spent many hours tweaking the fonts to get them to play well together and look nice. I added this on top of a large blue picture of Abraham Lincoln, along the right side of his face. The picture of Lincoln is based off a portrait of him taken on November 8, 1863, 11 days before he gave the Gettysburg Address. I felt it was fitting and proper to use a portrait of Lincoln that was taken at around the same time as the address.

As finishing touches, I added Lincoln’s signature, the date (November 19, 1863), and the title, “Address Delivered at the Cemetery at Gettysburg”. This is from the so-called “Bliss copy” of the address, the last revision Lincoln made of the address and the text most commonly used as the standard text for the address.

Now you can contribute to the immortality of the address – and of the man who gave it – by wearing them both on a T-shirt. Neat, isn’t it? Check out the Lincoln Apparel website and my Etsy shop for my new Lincoln "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts. The T-shirts are screen printed, and they are 100% cotton and are made right here in the U.S.A.

Here’s some more fun facts about the Gettysburg Address:

* There are only 10 sentences in the Gettysburg Address.
* Lincoln likely spent several weeks working on his address. Lincoln was known to take his time writing speeches, polishing them until they were “perfect”.
* No, Lincoln didn’t write it on the back of an envelope on the train to Gettysburg. The ride was bumpy and it was only 70 minutes long. In addition, none of the surviving copies appear on an envelope and the earliest known copy is on White House stationery.
* Lincoln likely did finish working on his address at the Wills House, where he stayed in Gettysburg the night before the speech.
* There are 5 different surviving copies of the address in Lincoln’s hand known today. These are known as the Nicolay, Hay, Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss copies (in that order). They all differ slightly. Supposedly there is a 6th copy (the delivery copy) of the address in Lincoln’s hand but it has not been found.
* The Everett copy is the one that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum here in Springfield has.
* The Nicolay and Hay copies are at the Library of Congress. The Bancroft copy is at Cornell University, and the Bliss copy is in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House (which was Lincoln’s office during his time).
* The words “under God” were added in the Everett copy.
* The last three copies were made as souvenirs. The Bliss copy was made because the Bancroft copy did not fit the format the printer was going to use properly. The dates and the titles were added in these.

Enjoy the new T-shirts and have some Lincoln fun!

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As somebody who loves and enjoys downtown living, I walk to most of my destinations and take mass transit when I need to go somewhere not within my walking radius. Having a bus system that goes where I need it to go is important to me. Really, I should be able to get anywhere in the city that anybody who drives a car does.

Right now, the Springfield Mass Transit District is asking for input on improving bus service in Springfield. I have a lot of ideas for improving the system, so I thought I’d post mine here. The SMTD has hired a consultant to study this and recommend changes. While I think some of the recommended changes are good, unfortunately, overall I think that they shortchange neighborhoods in favor of a few large destinations, and they will leave much of the city without service.

Personally, I think a good bus system should:
* serve as many neighborhoods as possible – equal access for people who can’t or won’t drive;
* have bus stops that are no more than 3-5 blocks away;
* enhance and encourage pedestrian friendliness – after all, you have to walk to the bus stop and walk after you get off;
* use streets that are safe for pedestrian use if possible, and if not, have the bus go directly to the destination so bus system users are not endangered by having to cross dangerous streets or intersections.
* Make it easy to use the bus and encourage new ridership! If the bus doesn’t go somewhere, it won’t get any riders there!

The consultant’s recommendations seem to take away or disregard many of these attributes. The consultant says “bus friendly” streets; I say “pedestrian friendly”. The consultant would like to reduce “route redundancy” (more than 1 bus route using the same street); while I agree, the consultant’s proposals simply shift route redundancy from center city areas to a very few high-traffic streets, which makes the system worse by serving fewer people and destinations.

The following are my ideas to improve the system. They are based on the equal-access and pedestrian-friendly guidelines I outlined above. I have ridden most of the routes in the system and have a good feel of where its strengths and weaknesses are.

Fix Bergen Park/Grandview

Extend Bergen Park to K-mart, add a loop that serves far east Cook Street

This route doesn’t operate on the same schedule as other routes (it’s only 40 minutes long, most routes are 30 or 60), so it can be kind of annoying when making transfers. In addition, it only travels in one direction most of the day. I say, make it longer, to fill up the 60 minutes and serve more destinations. Let’s extend it down Clear Lake to the shopping area around the east side K-mart, this is currently unserved and it’s always baffled me why. If you want to go there now, you have to walk down a section of busy Clear Lake Avenue with no sidewalk, and cross the dangerous Clear Lake / Dirksen intersection, which doesn’t have any pedestrian signals. From the K-mart on Clear Lake, add a loop that goes down Dirksen and serves far east Cook Street.

Add a loop to Bergen Park (red) to serve Sangamon Shopping Center and the Northgate subdivision. North 9th (brown) no longer needs to serve it.

To shave time off the proposed new North 9th route, let’s add another loop to Bergen Park to serve Sangamon Shopping Center at 19th and Sangamon, and the Northgate subdivision.

Finally, make it run in both directions. There you go – the new route is now Bergen Park/Grandview/Northgate, and will be much more useful than the old route. It will also be much more useful than the consultant’s replacement, which would split it into two routes, one of which would add redundant service to the northend Walmart and serve a stretch of North Dirksen that you cannot get off on. There doesn’t need to be 2 routes serving the northend Walmart, especially when there’s other areas (like the east side K-Mart) that have no service. The bus system should not choose where I want to shop for me.

Extend North 9th to Sandhill Road
This is something the consultant proposed with the ill-conceived North Dirksen route. I say, add the Sandhill Road segment on to North 9th instead. Just extend the terminus of North 9th from the aforementioned northend Walmart down Dirksen Parkway to Sandhill Road. Since my expanded Bergen Park/Grandview/Northgate route would serve Northgate, the Northgate section of North 9th can be eliminated to make it run faster. The faster travel time will allow the Sandhill Road segment to be added. Now on the northeast side, you have a fast route (North 9th) hitting all the commercial areas, and a good, convenient neighborhood route (Bergen Park/Grandview/Northgate) going through many different residential and commercial areas along the way.

Extend North 9th to Sandhill Road

This is the consultant's version. I marked it up. Notice the poorly planned purple North Dirksen route. My proposal will nix this route, and extend Bergen Park and North 9th to serve more destinations and fill in the gaps.

Make the UIS/Lincoln Land bus serve South Dirksen, South Taylor, and Southwind Park

Add a "via Dirksen" loop to the UIS / Lincoln Land route to serve both the Dirksen and Taylor corridors. It wouldn’t add any time to the proposed route. Use Dirksen one way, Taylor the other. The route would alternate the street order so it performs the loop both ways.

The nighttime Southeast route serves JC Penney at South Grand and Dirksen, and the consultant proposes extending the daytime UIS/Lincoln Land route to serve this also. But the consultant’s proposal just makes the route go back down Taylor. Why not make it go all the way, and serve both Dirksen and Taylor? One street on the way to UIS, and the other on the way back. The street order could be alternated (e.g. first bus is UIS via Dirksen, downtown via Taylor; the next one is UIS via Taylor, downtown via Dirksen; repeat.) It would add no time to the route, since it’s already going all the way down to Dirksen and back to Taylor anyway.

Having this route serve Dirksen would also eliminate the need for ugly half-solutions for South Dirksen like the proposed loop to the Southern View route to serve only a small portion of it. South Dirksen needs to be served since it contains shopping centers, employment centers, and the Greyhound station for which there is currently no service (funny how an intercity bus station isn’t served by a local bus route). I know Greyhound will likely eventually be moved downtown to the proposed new multimodal transportation facility on 10th Street, but for now it’s on Dirksen and it needs to be served.

Finally, let’s extend the terminus 4 blocks down Southwind Road to the new Southwind Park at Southwind and 2nd. This way, this special park designed for people with disabilities will be on a normal bus route.

Southwind Park Extension to UIS / Lincoln Land route

Save Colony West
This very useful route is on the consultant’s chopping block. The only change I’m making is for it to use Cherry Road since it’s shorter than Outer Park Drive. If I have to go to the mall (and it’s only when I have to), this is the route that I always use because it’s the shortest (both in time and distance). As a nice bonus, it also serves the Washington Park area, the Montvale shopping area, Robert Morris University, the Brentwood shopping center and the South MacArthur corridor including Town & Country Shopping Center. In the future, this route could even be extended down West Wabash, since it’s shorter than the other west side routes that serve this area. It would be a travesty if this route was eliminated. And no, based on my experience, it doesn’t have low ridership (the consultant’s excuse for removing it).

A split route 7. The light green route is West Lawrence which serves part of the West Governor route and an unserved portion of Chatham Road. The orange route is West Washington, basically the same as the current 7W West Washington route.

Split route 7 (White Oaks Mall) into two routes, and make them faster and serve more areas.
Route 7W would become West Washington and route 7S would become West Lawrence/South Chatham Road. The existing West Washington route would be kept pretty much intact and terminate at Prairie Crossing Shopping Center. Since Colony West would serve much of South MacArthur, I propose drastically realigning route 7S to go down West Lawrence Avenue and then down South Chatham Road. It will then jog through Jerome and follow its current path through the Chatham Hills and Westchester areas to Parkway Pointe and White Oaks Mall, where it would terminate. This would serve areas along Chatham Road that are unserved, and spare folks who live along the West Lawrence portion of the West Governor route from losing service. It would also provide easy access to Washington Park.

Now, let’s combine West Governor, Knox Knolls/Country Club, and Noble Avenue into a route.

The purple route is my proposed West Governor/Country Club/Noble Avenue route. It combines most of the areas from 3 old routes into a single new route, trying to ensure people in these areas do not lose service.

The consultant wants to make a huge hole in the west side by eliminating 3 routes (and adding major route redundancy to the Wabash Avenue corridor). This is my solution. By deleting the consultant’s proposed North Dirksen route, a new route can be added here. The new route will go down West Governor, sparing that area from having no service, after which it will go west down Monroe Street to serve the shopping areas there, then south through the areas served now by Knox Knolls/Country Club, and back east along Laurel and South Grand to serve areas along the Noble Avenue route that would also lose service under the consultant’s proposal.

The consultant’s proposal for the southwest side has a lot of completely unnecessary route redundancy on the Wabash and Highland Avenue corridors and in the Parkway Pointe shopping center. All this at the expense of a very large area of the southwest side. There’s absolutely no need for this when the routes could all be serving different neighborhoods!

The pink route will serve areas along far south MacArthur in addition to the areas served by the Lowell Avenue route. Once the MacArthur Boulevard project is completed, it could be extended to Knight’s Action Park.

So what about far south MacArthur? Lowell Avenue/Legacy Pointe is the solution.
This route would serve areas currently served by the Lowell Avenue route, then go west to Town and Country Shopping Center, and from there go down MacArthur and jog through Jerome via Iles and Wabash, then continue south on MacArthur to the new Legacy Pointe development. I propose extending it from there to the currently unserved Knight’s Action Park once the MacArthur Boulevard project is completed. The reason why I have this route run so close to the East Cook / White Oaks Mall route is because that proposed route would not take residents in this area directily to downtown, so they need another route that will.

And while we’re improving transit infrastructure, let’s make West Jefferson serve the airport.
West Jefferson is another route that doesn’t operate on a 30 or 60 minute interval, so I propose lengthening it. After going following its current alignment to the Stuart Park area, it would go north on Bruns Lane, east on North Grand, and an express segment would go north on Lincoln Avenue, east on Veterans, and north on Walnut to serve the airport. It would then go back down the same route, and follow Amos Avenue instead of Bruns Lane back to Jefferson, where it would follow Jefferson and Madison streets back to downtown. I know this route sounds kind of crazy, but if we can serve Sandhill Road I think we can serve the airport. It would also serve unserved areas on the northwest side. The other options for the airport would be making North 5th or North Walnut longer, but I think doing so would throw them out of the 30/60 minute time interval alignment.

The West Jefferson route would be expanded to take 60 minutes instead of 40, and all existing areas along the route would be served, in addition to an unserved section of North Grand and the airport. The route would go from downtown to all the way to the Stuart Park area on the far northwest side, then go up Bruns Lane, down North Grand and up Lincoln, Veterans, and Walnut to the airport. It would finally go downtown via Amos.

The narrow sky blue line is one idea for a more streamlined, simpler historic sites route. The existing one has too many loops. This route also goes to the Lincoln Depot – the current historic sites route doesn’t go there.

Streamline Historic Sites
Good route, bad implementation. I think it could be made a bit simpler, and still go to all the sites, including the Lincoln Depot which is unserved. Have it go west on Capitol first, and go around the State Capitol area counterclockwise, then go down by the Dana Thomas House, up 4th Street to the Governor’s Mansion and down Jackson and then 5th to the Vachel Lindsay Home, then down Edwards to 6th, and go all the way north past all the sites (including the Museum) to Carpenter Street, then west to 4th Street, going past Edwards Place and from there to the Tomb. From there, it’d go back down 5th Street to the Old State Capitol, east on Washington and then loop around the hotels and the Lincoln Depot before heading down 7th past the Lincoln Home visitors center and finally back up 6th and then Capitol to the starting point.

Make a nighttime UIS / Lincoln Land route by changing West Side Via MacArthur to a south side route
UIS and Lincoln Land are probably the most asked for nighttime destinations that are unserved. The excuse is that it’s too far away, but I think it could be done by using a route similar to the proposed daytime Lincoln Land bus (the only difference is it would end at Capital Area Career Center, instead of Southwind Park, and use the existing southeast route to South Grand). Then make the night West Side Via MacArthur route into a night south side route. It would serve far South MacArthur and Legacy Pointe, Stanford Avenue, 6th Street, Ash Street and other areas served by the night southeast route that would be unserved by making UIS/Lincoln Land into a nighttime route. There is no need to have two night west side routes following basically the same route, particularly when evening service is already sparse.

Anyways, those are my suggestions. I think Lincoln would want his hometown to have a bus system that “does the most people the most good”. Here’s some maps:
Current Springfield bus map
Consultant’s proposed Springfield bus map
Heart of Lincoln Land’s proposed bus map

If you have any other ideas for improving the system leave a comment in the comment section.

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