$79 Million TIFIA Loan for the Reconstruction of the CTA’s 95th Street Red Line Station Secured

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recently announced that $79 million in federal funding has been secured to finalize the funding of the new 95th Street Terminal on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line.

“The Red Line is the backbone of our transportation network system and one of our City’s key economic engines,” Emanuel says. ”By utilizing innovative federal financing, we are ensuring that we build the infrastructure Chicago needs to succeed economically in the 21st Century and take advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a significant investment in the South Side.”

The new $240 million station is the first CTA terminal project in 30 years and one of the largest single station projects in the CTA’s history. The 95th Street station reconstruction project will completely rebuilt the station, which has become outdated. Located at the south end of the Red Line, the CTA’s busiest rail line, the new construction will expand customer areas, relieve congestion and generally improve the experience of the close to 4 million riders who pass through the station each year.

“The federally funded TIGER grant program is the largest and most competitive transportation grant programs in the nation,” Durban says. “We all worked together to bring this funding right back to the South Side, where construction on a new multimodal station will help bring new development, spur the local economy and give commuters a safe, modern station for decades to come. This announcement is an example of how the federal investments we are making today – and the additional funding that they help leverage – are putting us in the best position to provide world-class mass transit services in the future.”

The new terminal will feature two buildings, one situated north and one south of 95th Street, as well as reconfigured pedestrian areas and bus bays. The CTA has partnered with Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates to create artworks for the station. The $79 million in funding comes through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act which provides assistance for qualified infrastructure projects across the country.

Preliminary work is expected to start in late spring and major construction is expected to begin by this fall. The terminal is scheduled for completion in 2016.

Rendering Courtesy of: 95th/Dan Ryan via CTA/Flickr.