One CTA station project finished, three more in the works
BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter mihejirika@suntimes.com January 17, 2012 6:36PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel reaches out for his coat after the grand re-opening of the Grand/State Red Line station. Tuesday, January 17, 2012 | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
Article Extras
Updated: February 19, 2012 8:15AM
A glitzy $73.6 million facelift to the Grand Avenue Red Line stop — a four-year headache to both commuters on the CTA trains and cars on the streets above — was unveiled Tuesday, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel touting upcoming similar renovations or construction of new stations expected to significantly enhance the city’s L system.
Three additional Chicago Transportation Authority projects announced by the mayor include a $50 million tax-increment-financing funded construction of a brand new elevated train station at Cermak Road on the Green Line expected to be a boost to the convention industry. Its design will begin in March with construction beginning February 2013 and expected to be completed by July 2014.
“The new station will ... provide much needed access for rapid transit for neighborhood residents and businesses. They will be connected to downtown and to McCormick Place,” Emanuel said.
All told, the four CTA station projects are responsible for creating a combined 4,000-plus jobs, according to the mayor.
A new, $75 million elevated station is to be built on Wabash Avenue at Washington Street on the Brown/Pink/ Green/Orange lines, replacing two separate, century-old Wabash Avenue stations at Randolph and Madison street
Design will begin in May, with construction starting in April 2013 and completion due September 2014.
And an $86.6 million facelift is planned for the Clark/Division Red Line subway station, which is getting a new, 6,300-square-foot mezzanine and platform at LaSalle Street. The first new mezzanine since the Red Line was built in the 1940s, its construction begins in March and will take two years to complete, with renovation of the existing Clark Street mezzanine and platform expected to be finished in March 2015.
“These repairs are making Chicago a more livable city for residents and a more attractive city for companies looking to expand or relocate,” said Emanuel, who has made infrastructure repair, particularly of the CTA, a focus of his administration. He stressed all four projects will be accessible to the disabled.
The Grand Avenue and Clark/Divison projects are funded primarily by federal grants, while funding for the Wabash/Washington project is coming from federal grants, a $2 increase in the city parking tax, and other funds.
“This is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate and restore the CTA infrastructure after many, many decades of neglect,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool.
He noted the projects come atop a $1 billion capital improvement plan for the Red and Purple lines announced by Emanuel and Gov. Quinn in November — that funding coming mostly from the state and feds. Also, the agency recently announced 100 stations will be spruced up this year by so-called “Renew Crews,” and a brand new Green/Pink line station being constructed at Morgan and Lake streets is expected to open this fall.
The CTA is the nation’s second largest public transportation system.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment