The CTA is working on a final timeline for a construction project that will close two Red Line stations on the North Side for three years.
The agency kicked off a series of public meetings this week to introduce Edgewater and Uptown residents and small business owners to the Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team, which will design and engineer the first phase of the Red and Purple Modernization Project, CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said.
The project, announced in 2014, involves rebuilding the Bryn Mawr, Berwyn, Argyle and Lawrence stations, Chase said. The project will make the stations, constructed from 1916 to 1923, larger and fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Chase compared the planned work to the reconstruction of the Wilson station in Uptown, completed in 2017.
Construction of temporary stations at Argyle and Bryn Mawr is planned to start this fall; all four stations will close in the winter of 2020-2021, according to the CTA. Berwyn and Lawrence will stay closed until all four stations reopen in the summer of 2024.
The other major aspect of the project will be a proposed bypass to carry Brown Line trains over the Red and Purple Line tracks north of Belmont, according to the CTA. The bypass is intended to reduce congestion and increase train speeds in the area by preventing Brown Line trains from obstructing the Red and Purple Line tracks at the interchange.
Work on the bypass is planned to start this fall and wrap up by the summer of 2021, the transit agency said. The Red and Purple line tracks from Belmont to Cornelia will then be rebuilt between the summer of 2021 and 2024.
In addition to the bypass and the station reconstruction, the Red and Purple Modernization Project also will include a new signal system on tracks between Belmont and Howard, Chase said.
