Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. announced that the renovation of five O’Hare branch CTA stations has been completed. The $43 million station modernization effort included the rehabilitation of the Addison, Irving Park, Montrose, Harlem and Cumberland stations.
“Today is an important milestone in our efforts to modernize transit infrastructure in Chicago, and we will continue making these much needed investments across the City to ensure we are providing the safest, most reliable service for commuters,” said Mayor Emanuel. “There are now new tracks, signals and power between the Loop and the northwest side – all of which will make the ride smooth, safe and speedy.”
The Blue Line station improvement project included the following station renovations:
- Addison: New elevator; extended stationhouse and new enclosed stairway; improvements to the platform and platform canopies; refurbished platform furniture and new lighting; and painting of station and platform.
- Irving Park and Montrose: Improvements to platform and platform canopies; renovated platform furniture; replaced walkway railings; new lighting and repainted stationhouses and platforms.
- Harlem: Improvements to platform, platform canopies floors and walkways; repairs to stationhouse curtain walls; rehabilitation of platform furniture; and new lighting and painting.
- Cumberland: Improvements to platform, platform canopies and walkways; replacement of stationhouse curtain walls; new lighting and painting at the stationhouses, platforms, and walkways; and upgrades to stationhouse and platforms.
The station renovations are part of the CTA’s $492 million Your New Blue modernization project for the Blue Line. Your New Blue will update a total of 14 Blue Line stations, make elevated and subway infrastructure upgrades, track signal improvements and traction power upgrades.
“We are pleased to reach the next milestone in the transformational Your New Blue project, our biggest investment in this branch since the Blue Line was extended to O’Hare from Jefferson Park more than 30 years ago,” said CTA President Carter. “The upgrades to these stations, which had a combined 5.5 million station entries last year, will provide a more pleasant customer environment and complement other Blue Line improvements that have enhanced service reliability and customer comfort.”