First proposed as part of the Red Ahead program in 2014, the Chicago Transit Authority is moving forward with its plan to extend the Red Line south from 95th Street, building four new rail stations that will provide service as far south as 130th Street. Today, the CTA revealed proposed routes for the extension, which will follow Eggleston Avenue before veering southeast at 111th Street, terminating near the Altgeld Gardens public housing project. The four new stations will be located at 103rd Street and Eggleston Avenue, 111th Street and Eggleston Avenue, Michigan Avenue and 116th Street and 130th Street and the Bishop Ford Freeway interchange.
The CTA will also hold a public hearing on Tuesday, November 1 at a location to be determined, where the public will be able to learn more about the project. No property has been acquired for the project yet, but the CTA will begin contacting owners of property that may be necessary to complete the extension. The final alignment of the route is expected to be announced sometime next year, with construction beginning once the necessary property has been acquired.
The Red Line extension will cost an estimated $2.3 billion, providing rail access to communities that have previously had to rely on buses. The project will join the ongoing $280 million construction of a new 95th Street CTA station and is expected to "create 29,000 new direct, indirect and induced jobs," according to a press release. The construction of the extension probably won't begin until several years from now, but it marks another ambitious project for the CTA that should increase ridership and could help justify extensions to other existing lines.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.