Chicago Construction News staff writer
Chicago’s Red Line extension project will receive almost $2 billion to extend CTA tracks on the South Side. Construction will extend the red line 5.6 miles from 95th Street to around 130th. It includes four new train stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue, and 130th Street.
“You know I love the West Side of Chicago, but it is well past time that the South and far South Side of Chicago gets its fair share of access to the economic vitality that the City of Chicago provides,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.
Several renderings were released at a news conference last week and officials and said the federal grant is the largest transit infrastructure grant ever awarded to the CTA in the agency’s history.
The other half of the funding for the project will come from local funds, bonds, the CTA and other sources. The project is about $300 million short of being fully funded, but 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale, who has been pushing for the extension for more than 20 years, is confident the shortage will not halt the project.
The engineering phase will begin next year and construction is expected to start in 2025 and last about five years.
