The Federal Transit Administration has recently signed a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to invest $1.97 billion in extending Chicago’s Red Line by 5.5 miles. This extension will connect the city’s Far South Side to the L system, improving access to jobs, schools, healthcare, and commerce for thousands of residents. This CTA transit project will include four new fully accessible stations, each featuring bus, bike, pedestrian, and park-and-ride connections. The project is also expected to generate over 25,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in real estate activity by 2040.
The FTA reported:
The Red Line Extension project has been in the works for a number of years and is the largest single transit project in CTA history. The project will address inequalities in access and economic investment in predominantly Black and disadvantaged neighborhoods in the city and improve transit connections between destinations such as the Rosalind Medical District, Pullman National Monument, Chicago State University, and the Chicago Housing Authority’s Altgeld Gardens housing development.
CTA estimates the project will generate more than 25,000 jobs in Cook County and bring in $1.7 billion in real estate activity through 2040, along with planned transit-oriented development around the 95th Street Corridor.
The project will improve transit accessibility by extending the Red Line from the existing terminal at 95th/Dan Ryan to 130th Street. The extension will include four new fully accessible stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue, and 130th Street. The average population density within one-half mile of each station is nearly 6,800 people per square mile. Each station will include bus, bike, pedestrian, and park-and-ride facilities connections. The Red Line Extension will also include new traction power substations, with approximately 1,200 parking spaces, a new railyard and maintenance shop near 120th Street.
The rail line will improve the economic prospects and quality of life in the South Side. Many residents of the Far South Side rely on public transportation because they cannot afford or are unable to drive. Approximately 24 percent of residents in the project corridor live below the poverty level, and 25 percent travel over 60 minutes to their jobs – all exceeding city-wide averages.
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