CTA to begin Red and Purple project’s final stage in Lake View
Construction begins this fall on Red and Purple line tracks between Belmont and Addison.
Sun-Times file photo
The Chicago Transit Authority will kick off the final stage of construction this fall on the North Belmont Red and Purple Modernization project in Lake View.
The final phase begins in October with the replacement of northbound tracks from Belmont to Cornelia avenues. Construction goes through 2025.
The CTA and contractor Walsh-Fluor will hold a public meeting on the project at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Second Unitarian Church of Chicago, 656 W. Barry Ave.
Trains won’t run on three upcoming weekends while crews place new tracks, according to the CTA. Shuttle buses will run instead. The Brown Line won’t have service Oct. 14-16 between Belmont and Southport. Red and Purple lines won’t run between Belmont and Addison Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 10-13.
The Red and Purple Line Modernization project — the most expensive project in CTA history — is now two-thirds complete, the CTA said.
In 2021, the CTA completed the Red-Purple Bypass for Brown Line trains just north of the Belmont station. Reconstruction of southbound tracks between Belmont and Cornelia avenues should be done by the end of the year, the CTA said. The CTA is also rebuilding stations at Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr.
These projects are part of Phase 1 of the Red and Purple Modernization project, which will update nearly 10 miles of tracks and stations on the North Side. Future projects are still in the design phase. The RPM project is one part of the CTA’s Red Ahead program, which will update the entire Red Line and extend it south to 130th Street.