The new CTA Cermak-McCormick station that opened this year on the Green Line and the demolition of the Madison/Wabash Loop elevated station house downtown were merely warmups.
The Chicago Transit Authority has amassed a lengthy, complex and expensive list of projects that amount to IOUs to the transit-riding public, going well beyond the agency’s longtime promise to provide “on time, clean, safe and friendly service.’’
The total of the projects runs well into the billions of dollars and — because of eye-popping costs, regulatory red tape and assorted NIMBY issues (like the proposed Brown Line flyover bridge in Lakeview) — it’s murky in some cases when ribbon-cuttings will be held.
The transit agency is budgeting $2.3 billion in capital improvements in fiscal 2016 through 2020. But an additional 2.4 million people are expected to be living in the seven-county Chicago region by 2040, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Transit is pitched as the smart alternative to driving, but many existing transit lines are operating at maximum capacity.
The Regional Transportation Authority recently estimated that the CTA, Metra and Pace need more than $36 billion over the next 10 years to eliminate a backlog of deferred maintenance and replacement. The CTA’s share is $22.4 billion, the vast majority of that for the rail system, the RTA said.
Forty-eight of the CTA’s 146 rail stations are not accessible to people with disabilities, according to the transit agency, and 43 percent of the stations are past their useful life, as are more than 50 percent of elevated rail structures.
Here is the CTA’s plan to rebuild. It is a good start, but only a start, because the work never ends. If you dare say you are done, then you are really done.
Details: Extend Red Line Dan Ryan branch 5.3 miles, from the 95th Street terminal to 130th Street. New stations at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street. Extension would streamline transit service between Far South Side and downtown.
4
Red
line
95th/Dan Ryan
station
Extension
New 103rd station
New 111th station
New Michigan Ave. station
New 130th station
Time frame: To be determined.
Extend Red Line Dan Ryan branch 5.3 miles, from the 95th Street terminal to 130th Street. New stations at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street. Extension would streamline transit service between Far South Side and downtown.
Details: Delivery of prototypes in 2019, revenue service in 2020. The contract will be awarded in early 2016. Pictured is the 5000 series, the newest cars in the fleet.
JOSE M. OSORIO / TRIBUNE PHOTO
Time frame: As early as 2020
Delivery of prototypes in 2019, revenue service in 2020. The contract will be awarded in early 2016. Pictured is the 5000 Series, the newest cars in the fleet.
Cost: $1.9 billion first phase, up to $4.7 billion total.
Time frame: TBD
Details: Rebuild northern sections of Red and Purple lines, starting from south of the Belmont station in Chicago and extending north through Evanston and Wilmette. Modernization is designed to expand rail capacity for the next 60 to 80 years.
Evanston
Purple
line
Red
line
Brown
Belmont
station
4
Miles
5
Time frame: To be determined.
Rebuild northern sections of Red and Purple lines, starting from south of the Belmont station in Chicago and extending north through Evanston and Wilmette. Modernization is designed to expand rail capacity for the next 60 to 80 years.
Details: BRT project aims to slash travel times by up to 80 percent on Ashland Avenue between Irving Park Road and 95th Street. The plan features BRT stations spaced about a half-mile apart in the median of Ashland and buses running in the center lane of each direction.
IRVING PARK
LOOP
4
4
95TH
Miles
5
Time frame: To be determined.
BRT project aims to slash travel times by up to 80 percent on Ashland Avenue between Irving Park Road and 95th Street. The plan features BRT stations spaced about a half-mile apart in the median of Ashland and buses running in the center lane of each direction.
Details: Replace signal system serving Brown and Purple Line Express between Armitage and Merchandise Mart stations.
A $90 million project to eliminate slow zones between Armitage and the Loop was completed in September.
Brown
line
Armitage
Merchandise
Mart
LOOP
4
Miles
5
Time frame: End of 2015
Replace signal system serving Brown and Purple Line Express between Armitage and Merchandise Mart stations. A $90 million project to eliminate slow zones between Armitage and the Loop was completed in September.
Details: Off-street bus staging bays south of Jackson Boulevard between Canal and Clinton streets. The weather-protected transit center will have an elevator to the Amtrak underground pedestrian tunnel, allowing commuters to pass between Union Station and the bus staging area without crossing at street level.
LOOP
RANDOLPH
Dedicated bus lane
BRT station
WASHINGTON
Ogilvie Trans.
Center
4
MADISON
Union
Station
JACKSON
UNION STATION
TRANSIT CENTER
Loop
Miles
5
Time frame: 2016
Off-street bus staging bays south of Jackson Boulevard between Canal and Clinton streets. The weather-protected transit center will have an elevator to the Amtrak underground pedestrian tunnel, allowing commuters to pass between Union Station and the bus staging area without crossing at street level.
Details: CTA bus-only lanes and rapid transit-style boarding stations in a 2-mile area serving Washington, Madison, Clinton and Canal streets downtown. Goal centers on cutting trip times on the “last mile of travel” for commuters using Metra and CTA trains.
LOOP
RANDOLPH
Dedicated bus lane
BRT station
WASHINGTON
Ogilvie Trans.
Center
4
MADISON
Union
Station
JACKSON
UNION STATION
TRANSIT CENTER
Loop
Miles
5
Time frame: End of 2015/early 2016
CTA bus-only lanes and rapid transit-style boarding stations in a 2-mile area serving Washington, Madison, Clinton and Canal streets downtown. Goal centers on cutting trip times on the “last mile of travel” for commuters using Metra and CTA trains.
Details: mericans with Disabilities Act improvements include the addition of an elevator at a rehabbed main station house on Ogden Avenue and changes to two ramps to improve accessibility.
Illinois
Medical
District
station
Blue
Pink
4
4
Miles
5
Time frame: Mid-2017
Americans with Disabilities Act improvements include the addition of an elevator at a rehabbed main station house on Ogden Avenue and changes to two ramps to improve accessibility.
Details: Construction is set to begin in 2016 to repair the station, built in 1897, and make it accessible to riders with disabilities. Two elevators will be built, while retaining the historic appearance of one of the last surviving original Loop “L” stations.
LOOP
RANDOLPH
Quincy
station
4
4
JACKSON
VAN BUREN
95TH
Miles
5
Time frame: End of 2017
Construction is set to begin in 2016 to repair the station, built in 1897, and make it accessible to riders with disabilities. Two elevators will be built, while retaining the historic appearance of one of the last surviving original Loop “L” stations.
Details: Rush hour express bus service on Ashland and Western avenues, to reduce travel times. Special bus traffic signals will be installed by 2017 to make it easier for buses to pass through intersections.
95TH
Miles
5
Time frame: End of 2015
Rush hour express bus service on Ashland and Western avenues, to reduce travel times. Special bus traffic signals will be installed by 2017 to make it easier for buses to pass through intersections.
Details: Smartphone ticketing and fare-payment app for customers of the CTA, Metra and Pace. Virtual tickets are purchased using a Ventra account, or a credit or debit card.
Time frame: Delayed, possibly this fall.
Smartphone ticketing and fare-payment app for customers of the CTA, Metra and Pace. Virtual tickets are purchased using a Ventra account, or a credit or debit card.
Details: The $34.7 million Kimball, Princeton and State substation projects will be completed in 2015.
In 2015, the CTA also completed $56.9 million of major upgrades at the Armitage, Farwell and Hill substations.
Four fully funded substation upgrades are planned at the East Lake, Broadway, Milwaukee and Illinois substations with various completion dates through 2019.
Looking for image
Workers make progress Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 on a new substation beneath the Brown Line north of Wendell Street on the North Side.
CHRIS WALKER / TRIBUNE PHOTO
Time frame:
The $34.7 million Kimball, Princeton and State substation projects will be completed in 2015.
In 2015, the CTA also completed $56.9 million of major upgrades at the Armitage, Farwell and Hill substations. Four fully funded substation upgrades are planned at the East Lake, Broadway, Milwaukee and Illinois substations with various completion dates through 2019.
*$1.9 billion first phase, up to $4.7 billion total.
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