Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority approved a study to consider adding stops along the El’s yellow line.

Details of the RTA-directed study, including the funding and how it will be conducted, have not been determined yet, said spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile.

She said Evanston and Skokie officials will be involved in the process.

The study will examine the entire yellow line route — which runs from Howard Street, through Evanston, to Skokie — to decide where new stations would be added. Thomas-Reile said the study is likely to begin within the next few months and will take at least a year to complete.

Evanston officials would like to add a stop at Dodge Avenue and Mulford Street to serve the city’s Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave. The center’s manager, Christina Ferraro, said there was interest in adding the stop previously, before the center opened in July 2002.

Most visitors currently reach the center by the Chicago Transit Authority’s No. 97 bus, car or taxi service. Ferraro said a new El stop would be a benefit for center members.

“Seniors really want it here,” Ferraro said.

Citizens group, Evanston’s Transportation Future, also supports expanded yellow line service.

“We’re very much in favor of there being at least one or two stops on the yellow line in Evanston,” said Rick Martin, one of the group’s organizers.

In addition to the Dodge stop, Martin mentioned that adding intersections at both Ridge and Asbury avenues, south of Oakton Street, could be beneficial. One stop would be near St. Francis Hospital, 355 Ridge, and a stop at Asbury would serve a nearby area of high-density housing.

“There are advantages at each location,” Martin said, “and so (new stops) would certainly have a positive impact.”

Evanston Director of Public Works David Jennings said all three locations will be considered in the study.

RTA decided to pursue the current study as a follow-up to a previous study, requested by Skokie officials, which focused mainly on the portion of the yellow line that passes through the village.

The study, completed in September, reported that the area of downtown Skokie located north of Oakton on Skokie Boulevard would be an ideal location for an additional stop.

Skokie officials have applied for a federal grant to continue planning for the station, but Thomas-Reile said it likely will be at least five years before any stations would be finished.