Chicago Construction News staff writer
Fluor Corp. and its joint venture partner, Walsh Construction Co., have reached substantial completion on the Chicago Transit Authority’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Line Modernization Phase One project, marking the largest completed capital project in the agency’s history.
The milestone caps years of construction that modernized more than two miles of century-old elevated track between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr, rebuilt four stations into fully accessible facilities and added new rail infrastructure designed to improve service along one of the CTA’s busiest corridors.
“The RPM Phase One project will have a lasting impact on Chicago’s transit system and the communities it serves,” Shawn West, president of Fluor’s infrastructure business, said in a statement. “I could not be more proud of what this team has accomplished.”
Construction began in 2019 and was carried out while rail service remained in operation. The project team included Fluor, Walsh Construction, Stantec as the designer, Hitachi as the signaling contractor and Meade as the electrical contractor.
Among the project’s key features is the Red-Purple Bypass at Belmont Station, an elevated flyover that separates Brown Line trains from Red and Purple Line traffic. The bypass eliminates track conflicts and is expected to improve train throughput and service reliability across all three lines.
The project also included the installation of 11 miles of new digital track circuit signaling, increasing system capacity and supporting future signaling and railcar upgrades.
The CTA opened the new stations and track infrastructure to passengers in the summer of 2025. Final completion of the Red and Purple Line Modernization Phase One project is scheduled for November 2026.
