The Green Line is adding a brand new station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street, but not until 2020. On Thursday, the city announced plans to construct a new station that officials say will better serve Near West Side residents and businesses in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor.
“Today we close the transit gap and provide local residents and businesses with the new station they have been asking for,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a news release. “The new station at Damen will fulfill a longstanding need for better transit options in the neighborhood and spur economic activity, improving quality of life for everyone who lives and works in the area.”
The Damen station will fill a 1.5-mile gap that currently exists between the Green Line’s Ashland and California stations. According to the city, this particular “fill-in” station is a priority due to the significant residential and commercial growth that’s occurred in the area in recent years. And, sports fans will be happy to hear that they will have a shorter walk to the United Center for Bulls and Blackhawks games.
Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter is hoping that the Damen station will produce the same results as two other “fill-in” stations recently installed along the Green Line. A station serving the Green and Pink lines was built at Morgan Street in 2012, and a station at Cermak-McCormick Place was constructed in 2015. According to officials, both stops precipitated new commercial and residential developments.
“Providing a convenient, affordable transportation option makes it easy for people to get to and from work, school and their other destinations,” Carter said in the release. “And new stations have been shown to promote private investment in the surrounding area.”
The city didn’t disclose how much the project would cost but said it would be paid for using funds from the Kinzie Industrial Corridor tax increment financing district. Construction work is expected to begin in 2018 and take approximately two years to complete.
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