CHICAGO – The CTA has awarded a construction contract for the long-promised project to extend the Red Line nearly six miles south.
CTA board members on Wednesday unanimously approved a $2.9 billion contract with Walsh-VINCI Transit Community Partners to design and build four Red Line stations south of 95th Street.
The contracting group includes Walsh Construction, VINCI Construction, EXP, Systra and other companies, some of which have worked on major local infrastructure projects, officials said.
Walsh Construction, one of the city’s oldest and largest construction companies, is leading the $2.1 billion rehabilitation of the CTA’s Red and Purple Lines on the North Side. As with the Red Line extension, Walsh formed a joint venture with construction companies Fluor and EXP for the North Side reconstruction project.
EXP has worked on CTA projects including upgrades along both branches of the Blue Line and the Washington and Wabash stations in the Loop, the CTA said.
The 5.6-mile extension would move the Red Line’s South Side terminus from 95th Street to 130th Street. The agency plans to build new stations at 103rd and 111th Streets near Eggleston Avenue, at Michigan Avenue near 116th Street, and at 130th Street near Altgeld Gardens.
The huge construction contract awarded by the CTA comes after the Federal Transit Authority pledged “accelerated funding” for the Red Line extension earlier this month.
That brings the project’s bloated budget to $5.3 billion, up from $4.1 billion the day before, a figure CTA officials said Wednesday that’s due to sharp increases in construction and labor costs nationally.
The groundbreaking for the Red Line extension is now scheduled for late 2025 and completion is expected by 2030.
CTA President Dorval Carter, who has been criticized for the slow recovery of CTA train and bus service since the pandemic, wiped tears from his eyes at Wednesday’s board meeting and triumphantly held up a sign for the planned Red Line terminal at 130th Street.
“It’s a very emotional day,” Carter said. “My only focus has been to get to where we can make this project happen.”
Carter said he left the Federal Transit Authority to take the top job at the CTA to help his hometown finance a “long overdue” project to build a more equitable and densely scheduled transit system for South Side residents.
“My special skills are not in fixing a broken bus, renting a train or rebuilding tracks. My special skills are in raising money,” Carter said, pausing to fight back tears. “I knew if I put my mind to it, I could bring something to the Far South Side of Chicago that I’ve been hearing about since I was a kid.”
Mayor Richard J. Daley promised to extend the Red Line beyond 95th Street when the Dan Ryan Terminal opened in 1969.
For years, South Side residents read headline after headline promising that the long-awaited expansion would soon take place, but construction never materialized.
The CTA now expects the construction to create more than 12,500 jobs and generate billions of dollars in investments by 2040 as part of a transit-focused real estate development plan to accompany the rail expansion.
According to officials, the CTA will begin demolishing buildings and relocating utilities along the Red Line extension this fall.
The extension is expected to save passengers up to 30 minutes of commuting time between Downtown and 130th Street, officials previously said.
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