The Chicago Transit Authority will have key opportunities to upgrade its system’s lines in the coming years. The CTA secured federal funding in January to extend its Red Line. Additionally, the CTA laid out its plans for making all of its 146 stations Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible. As of 2024, 104 stations are accessible.
The Red Line extension will add 5.5 miles of track, four stations and a railyard to the existing Red Line. The Red Line currently runs from 95th Street Station to Howard Station in Evanston. According to the CTA, the goal is to provide more efficient access to Chicago for those in far South Side districts. Many of these districts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, have higher unemployment rates.
Census districts in the far South Side also see lower median incomes than their northern counterparts. Compared to the median income around Howard Street Station at around $55,000, the median income where the extended line would end sits around $25,000.
The South Side saw a reduction in employment and economic productivity in the 1970s as Rust Belt cities entered a post-industrial stage and manufacturing, such as steelworking, declined. The extension has the potential to increase employment opportunities for South Side residents. On the project’s website, the CTA says the extension is estimated to generate more than 25,000 jobs in Cook County.
The CTA announced its All Stations Accessibility Program in 2018: a four-phase project to make all remaining stations ADA-accessible by 2038. The first two phases have both been planned, and Phase One is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. The first two phases encompass a combined 17 stations. Evanston residents have recently expressed disillusionment with accessibility on the Purple Line.
Funding has proven to be the greatest challenge for ASAP’s success. The CTA has not yet secured funding for the remaining two phases, which aim to make all remaining stations ADA-accessible.
Funding for the Red Line extension was secured before President Donald Trump took office and began cuts to federal grants, though representatives of the CTA said in a January statement that the funding is not at stake. The ASAP plan still needs funding for part of Phase Two and the entirety of phases three and four.
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