Plan for $1.1 billion in federal funds to rebuild North Side CTA stations criticized

The $203 million Wilson Station reconstruction project, currently underway.

By Miles Painter

In the final days of his presidency, President Barack Obama approved more than a billion dollars of federal grant money to overhaul and improve four stations on the North Side Red Line.

The funds will be used to reconstruct the Bryn Mawr, Berwyn, Argyle and Lawrence stations. All four stops are nearing 100 years in age, and will be receiving elevators in addition to new platforms, tracks and support structures.

Updating the Red Line has been a long-term goal of the CTA, but some Chicagoans are skeptical of the attention paid to renovating pre-existing North Side stations when a large section of the South Side lacks access to the CTA train system. The Red Line, Chicago’s longest, currently ends at 95th Street. There is a $2.3 billion proposal to extend the line south to 130th Street, but so far no ground has been broken.

Last year, the CTA sent 248 notices to South Side homeowners informing them that their home could be acquired as part of the project, which is expected to be completed in 2026.

The Bryn Mawr station on the CTA Red Line will be renovated as part of a $1.1 billion federal grant (Miles Painter/MEDILL)