January 2021
New Station Designs Unveiled for CTA's RPM Phase One Project
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Transit Authority unveiled the designs for four Red Line stations that will be fully reconstructed as part of the Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One project, the largest transit investment in CTA history that is being constructed by the Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team.
CTA will rebuild the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr rail stations, transforming each into new, modern, larger, and fully accessible stations to customers with disabilities. The new stations will include elevators and escalators, wider platforms, and vastly improved amenities, better serving the more than four million customers who enter the stations each year.
The $2.1 billion RPM Phase One project is the first part of CTA鈥檚 plan to rebuild the Red and Purple lines between Linden and Belmont. Phase One work will benefit the entire Red Line by addressing chronic overcrowding and delays while modernizing infrastructure that is more than a century old. The Red Line is CTA鈥檚 busiest line, carrying nearly 70 million riders in 2019.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 station design unveilings mark a historic day for Chicago transit as we continue to rebuild and revamp CTA's busiest line, the Red Line,鈥� said Mayor Lightfoot. "Public transit is the great connector of our city and with this monumental project, we are building on our obligation to ensure Chicago鈥檚 transportation network is accessible, reliable and affordable so our residents remain connected to jobs, education and opportunity."
NEW STATION DESIGNS
CTA will fully reconstruct the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr stations as well as rebuild and repair adjacent track structures. CTA stations are important cornerstones of the communities they serve, which informed the design of the stations. In developing the designs, CTA with construction contractor Walsh Fluor Design-Build Team and architectural firm EXP worked closely with people who live and work in the neighborhoods around the stations to develop designs to create an identity for each station, with each responding to the context and the culture of the local neighborhoods.
Renderings of Argyle Red Line Station
Rendering of Berwyn Red Line Station
Rendering of Berwyn Red Line Station
Rendering of Lawrence Red Line Station
鈥淐TA鈥檚 Red Line forms the backbone of our City and is a critical transportation link for Chicagoans, including essential workers, who need efficient, reliable, and modern service each and every day,鈥� said CTA President Dorval Carter. 鈥淭he RPM project鈥檚 benefits extend beyond the project area by improving transit operations and by providing opportunities across the city through training, jobs, and contract opportunities that will be a model for future CTA projects like the Red Line Extension.鈥�
RPM PHASE ONE
RPM Phase One Project includes three major components:
- Reconstruction of the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr Red Line stations into larger, 100 percent accessible stations; and replacement of track structure totaling six track-miles that is a century old. Reconstruction work will begin in Spring 2021. The new stations are expected to open by the end of 2024.
- New Red-Purple Bypass construction (expected completion by the end of 2021), followed by the reconstruction of Red and Purple Line track structure between Belmont and Newport/Cornelia (expected completion by the end of 2024).
- Installation of a new signal system on 23 track miles between Howard and Belmont that, similar to roadway traffic signals, will improve train flow and service reliability.