CTA Completes New $280 Million 95th Street Red Line Station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The new northern terminal of the 95th Street Red Line station opened on Friday, wrapping up the most extensive and costliest station renovation project ever for the CTA.
The $280 million project completely replaced the CTA's southernmost Red Line station, creating two new terminals on either side of 95th Street, adding much more space for passengers and nearly 20 CTA and Pace bus lines.
The CTA began construction on the foundation for the new station in late 2014, and opened the new southern terminal in April 2018. The station stayed open throughout construction.
A glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge over 95th Street links the two terminals.
With both terminals complete, eastbound buses will now use the south terminal, and westbound buses will use the north terminal, according to the CTA. Previously, buses could only use the north terminal, sometimes causing gridlock as eastbound and westbound buses crossed paths.
The new station has 26 bus bays, an increase from 12 at the old station. The new station also has more Ventra machines, turnstiles, bike racks; and a longer train platform. The new north terminal also includes a radio station and DJ booth that will broadcast live music over the station's speaker system.
The station is the busiest on the Red Line, and one of the busiest in entire the CTA system, serving 20,000 commuters every day. About 1,000 CTA, Pace, and Greyhound bus trips stop at the station on the average weekday, according to the CTA.
City officials still plan to extend the Red Line south to 130th Street, but that project is still in the design and planning stage, and full funding has not yet been secured.
The CTA previously approved $75 million in funding for preliminary engineering and an environmental assessment of the project, but the agency is still seeking more than $1 billion in federal funding for the $2.3 billion extension project.