Red, Purple Line improvement plans outlined
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Federal officials gave the CTA $35 million Thursday to help modernize the Red and Purple lines. The federal funding will help a modernization plan that will ultimately rebuild and expand capacity on the northern section parallel lines. Some stations will also be upgraded in order to meet disability access standards
Currently, that section of CTA rail serves about 40 percent of all CTA rail customers, and this investment will benefit generations of riders for the next 60-80 years, the mayor's office says.
It's not often you see a federal cabinet member at an L stop, but on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Transporation Anthony Foxx was accepting good wishes for bringing funding to the revitalization program.
"It's not always easy to get what your city needs," Foxx said, "and I know that from experience, particularly for transportation, you look for funding under any rock you can find, and sometimes those rocks are in Washington."
The first phase of what will be a $1.7 billion project involves building a bypass for Brown Line trains over the Clark Street junction. That means removing 16 to 18 adjacent properties, starting perhaps in 2017, and the affected neighborhood isn't impressed
"The switch over to Ventra that was a hot mess," said resident Scott Shimizu, "so I can't imagine undertaking a project like this would do anything but delay the Red Line."
However, proponents say these schemes, like last year's South Side Red Line reconstruction, are about getting the CTA ready for Chicago's expected growth over the next 60 to 80 years.
"In the last five years we have seen a 40 percent increase in ridership," said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, "and in the next five years we are going to see the same."
Today's $35 million will fund preliminary planning and engineering studies to refurbish and make accessible north side Red Line stations Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr. All tracks, bridges and viaducts between those stops will also be upgraded.
Additionally, a new Belmont bypass will be built to separate the Brown Line from the Red and Purple Line tracks. The CTA says doing that will increase the speed and capacity of all three lines.
Eventually, Washington could make $600 million available for revitalization. In order to get the full amount of funding available, the city will have to meet certain milestones along the way, including proper environmental assessments. The first phase of the revitalization is expected to begin by 2017 and finish by 2021.
"We think the economic development that comes with transit is tremendous," said CTA CEO Forrest Claypool. "The jobs, the retail development, the revenue, it's all part of building a modern future."
Read about the project: http://www.transitchicago.com/rpmproject/
