The departure of a Chicago Transit Authority real estate representative and high prices of construction materials have delayed the renovation of the Howard El station twice in the last nine months, an aide to a Chicago alderman said Tuesday.

The CTA was supposed to seek bids in August 2004 for the project, which was approved in 2002. Bidding for the project is expected to start this summer.

“The CTA has apparently seen that they need to make sure that they have everything straight before they put out to bid,” said Michael Land, a staff assistant for Chicago Ald. Joe Moore (49th), whose ward is near the Howard station.

The $56 million remodeling includes installing elevators to make the station handicap-accessible and connecting platforms to an adjacent shopping center, said CTA spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler. CTA has been seeking community input about the renovation for the past three years.

The departure of CTA’s real estate representative earlier this year caused the latest delay, Land said. The agent was negotiating with neighbors to place supporting columns for the renovations on properties next to the station.

“The negotiator left before the negotiation was done,” Land said. The agent’s departure delayed the bidding from February to July, when the negotiations are expected to be complete, Land said.

The first delay, from August 2004 to February, was caused by a CTA redesign of the project due to rising steel prices. CTA intended to have steel canopies cover the entire station, but a redesign calls for fewer canopies.

In addition, increases in the price of granite caused the CTA to redesign the station’s new floors, some of which will now be made of concrete, Ziegler said.

“Rehabilitation projects can take several years,” Ziegler said. “Funding will often times determine when a project can take place or move forward.”

About 5,800 people used the Howard station on an average weekday in February, an increase of more than 3 percent from last year. It is the Red Line’s busiest station north of Belmont, according to CTA documents.

Less-utilized Red Line stations such as Loyola and Addison, as well as most of the stations on the sparsely-used Green Line, have already been made handicap-accessible.

“Decisions on the order of renovation work have been and continue to be based on the greatest need determined by age and deterioration (of facilities) and as funding becomes available,” Ziegler said.

Land said he expects a renovated Howard station in the near future.

“Eventually they have to get it done in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” he said.

Reach Greg Hafkin at [email protected].