53 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

RT&S, 11/22/21

 

CTA’s new Red-Purple Bypass went into service Friday, Nov. 19, on the Brown Line

 

CTA’s new red-purple bypass went into service on Friday, Nov. 19.

Federal Transit Administration

 

 

The Chicago Transit Authority last week announced the new Red-Purple Bypass, the first major improvement for CTA customers as part of historic $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One project, went into service on the Brown Line on Friday, November 19, 2021.

 

The bypass is the first new section of track added to the CTA system in 28 years. RPM is the largest reconstruction project in CTA history, modernizing and replacing 100-year-old rail structures and stations to improve rail service reliability, comfort and convenience for CTA customers.

 

The new Red-Purple Bypass is an important part of CTA’s work to improve Red Line service throughout the region. The bypass eliminates a 114-year-old rail junction that had become a chokepoint for service across the CTA rail system and will allow CTA to add rail service during busy travel periods and reduce overcrowding and delays.

 

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[CNJRoss]

First train on the CTA RPM Red-Purple Bypass

 

Nov 23, 2021

 

CTA Red-Purple Modernization

 

The Red-Purple Bypass is OPEN! Customers can ride the new Bypass from Belmont to Southport stations on Kimball-bound Brown Line trains. The Bypass is the first new, permanent main line track added to CTA since Orange Line opened in 1993! Here’s a look at the first train.

 

Benefits of the Bypass include allowing CTA to add trains during the busiest commute periods, and eliminating capacity restrictions. The Bypass will also provide quicker, more reliable service throughout the CTA system. For neighbors, the Bypass has noise walls that reduce noise at the street level, and lighting and street pavers to improve the street-level aesthetic.

 

Taking a ride? Tag us in your pics @CTARPM on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

 

 

[KevinKorell]

Block Club Chicago, 1/24/22:

 

 

   CTA Begins Demolishing ‘L’ Tracks Between Belmont And Cornelia, Will Remove Slight Curve That Slows Trains 

 

 

Crews began demolishing 100-year-old Red and Purple line tracks in Lakeview on Monday as part of the CTA’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Project.

 

Read

[CNJRoss]

Chicago Sun-Times, 1/24/22

 

CTA prepares to demolish, rebuild 100-year-old North Side tracks

 

The work is part of the transit agency’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Project.

 

The Chicago Transit Authority’s largest reconstruction project in the agency’s history is set to continue in February with the demolition of aging tracks north of the Belmont Red Line station.

 

“At more than 100 years old, this elevated track has served multiple generations and now it is time to rebuild for the next 100 years,” CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. said Monday.

 

The project, which is expected to be completed in 2025, involves demolishing and rebuilding the Red and Purple Line tracks between the Belmont station and West Cornelia Avenue. Besides being a century old, the tracks curve, which slows down trains, the CTA said.

 

SNIP

 

The new bypass, which has been operating since November, eliminated a 114-year-old “choke point” that, the mayor pointed out, has been frustrating for commuters. The bypass now carries northbound Brown Line trains over the Red and Purple Line tracks just north of the often-congested Belmont Station in Lake View. The bypass also allows the CTA to add additional trains during the busiest commute periods, the agency says.

 

 

A Red Line train arrives at the Belmont Station as a Brown Line train travels on the CTA’s new “flyover” tracks on Monday. Before the bypass was built, that Red Line train could have been delayed, waiting for that northbound Brown Line train to cross the tracks in front of it. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

 

 

More here.

[KevinKorell]

The story is not over.   Issues have been found with the flyover crossover.  Frin WLS-TV, ABC-7 in Chicago, IL, 3/4/22:

 

 

      Red-Purple bypass damaged mere months after opening, city says still perfectly safe to operate 

 

 

Less than four months after opening to great fanfare, the new CTA Red-Purple Bypass has big chunks of concrete visibly missing.

 

The full story

[CNJRoss]

RT&S, 4/29/22

 

Chicago Transit Authority modernization project sports name by elementary school students

 

Written by David C. Lester, Managing Editor

 

 

Windy City Gantry

Chicago Transit Authority

Chicago Transit Authority and Walsh-Fluor announce the Windy City Gantry.

 

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team, the contractor for CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project, today announced the overhead gantry system building new Red and Purple Line track structures will be named the Windy City Gantry, a name selected by a second-grade class at Goudy Elementary in Uptown.

 

The CTA and Walsh-Fluor held a contest for elementary school students to suggest a name for the gantry as part of a contest and educational opportunity for young students to learn more about construction and the RPM project happening next to their school. The name will be added to the gantry while work is performed through 2025.

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[CNJRoss]

Railway Track and Structures, 4/17/23

 

CTA to Make Community Enhancements as Part of Red and Purple Modernization Project

 

The Chicago Transit Authority has announced a significant new addition to the $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Phase One Project, which will create more than one mile of new open space beneath Red and Purple Line tracks in the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods.

 

The new community space will be created in late 2023 between West Lawrence and West Ardmore avenues by removing nearly all of the century-old embankment structure and walls.

 

By removing a physical barrier that has separated the community for more than 100 years, the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods will gain new areas that could be developed into parking and community spaces when the RPM Phase One Project is completed in 2025.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Metro, 6/1/23

 

CTA Project to Begin Final Major Phase of Reconstruction

 

 

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced it will begin the final major phase of the transformational Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization project this summer.

 

 

The project is part of CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project.

 

This phase includes the start of construction of four new, fully accessible Red Line stations at Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr.

 

The agency also announced it will hold community meetings in June 2023 to provide information about the work, project benefits, and impacts to neighbors and CTA customers.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Metro Magazine, 9/27/23

 

CTA to Begin Final Stage of North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction Project

 

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced the agency will begin this fall the final major stage of the North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction project as part of CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project.

 

 

The final stage will mark the next major milestone for the RPM project, completing the new elevated track structure north of Belmont station and reaching the two-thirds completion point for this section of the project.

 

The North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction project includes two major components: the new Red-Purple Bypass, which opened in November 2021, and the full reconstruction of the 0.3 miles of southbound track structure north of Belmont station to approximately Newport/Cornelia avenues south of Addison Red Line station.

 

 

Continue here.  

[CNJRoss]

CTA news release

 

CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project’s Final Major Stage of North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction to Begin This Fall

 

September 26, 2023

 

RPM project to reach next major milestone following completion of new track structure north of Belmont station marking the project being two-thirds complete; community meeting to be held 10/17

 

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today announced the agency will begin this fall the final major stage of the North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction project as part of CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project. This final stage will mark the next major milestone for the RPM project, completing new elevated track structure north of Belmont station and reaching the two-thirds completion point for this section of the project.

 

The North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction project includes two major components: the new Red-Purple Bypass, which opened in November 2021, and the full reconstruction of the 0.3 miles of southbound track structure north of Belmont station to approximately Newport/Cornelia avenues south of Addison Red Line station. The bypass, along with the new Red and Purple line tracks being finished this fall, allow trains to travel more efficiently with fewer delays, and provide CTA with additional capacity to add trains to meet ridership demand.

 

“As CTA ridership returns in record numbers nearing pre-pandemic levels, we are pleased to deliver modern track infrastructure to our customers,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “Combined with the new tracks recently opened between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr earlier this year, we have now built nearly two miles of new tracks under the RPM project. We look forward to continuing to deliver on our promises to modernize the Red Line from north to south.”

 

  Final major stage of North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction (fall 2023through 2025)

 

With the completion of the bypass and the new southbound Red and Purple line tracks, CTA can move on to the next phase of work. CTA’s RPM project contractor, Walsh-Fluor, will rebuild 0.3 miles of northbound Red and Purple Line elevated track structures between Belmont station on the south to the stretch of track between Newport and Cornelia avenues on the north.

• Reconstruction of southbound tracks began in late 2021 and will be completed late 2023.
• Reconstruction of northbound tracks will start late 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2025.

  Minor rail service impacts expected in fall 2023

 

Red, Purple and Brown Line service will be maintained through the end of the project in 2025, with minor interruptions at the time of the new tracks being put into service this fall. During the weekends when rail service is interrupted, CTA will provide free shuttle buses between stations for customers. Upcoming scheduled service* interruptions:

• Brown Line: Belmont to Southport interrupted Oct. 14-16
• Red and Purple Line: Belmont to Addison interrupted Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 10-13

*Construction schedules are subject to change.

 

  Community meeting: North Belmont Red-Purple Reconstruction

 

CTA and Walsh-Fluor hold an in-person public meeting and will also be recorded and posted on our web site. Register for the meeting here.

 

October 17

 

Second Unitarian Church of Chicago, 656 W Barry Ave

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Translation services will be available upon request.

 

  RPM Phase One Overview

 

RPM Phase One Project includes three major components:

• Reconstruction of the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr Red Line stations into larger, 100 percent accessible stations; and replacement of track structure totaling six track-miles (ongoing).
• New Red-Purple Bypass construction (completed in 2021) and the reconstruction of Red and Purple Line track structure between Belmont and Newport/Cornelia (ongoing).
• Installation of a new signal system on 23 track miles between Howard and Belmont that, similar to roadway traffic signals, will improve train flow and service reliability (ongoing).

  The Red Line and RPM

 

The CTA’s Red Line is CTA’s busiest rail line, historically providing more than 67 million rides a year and serving some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in U.S.

 

The RPM Program, which will be done in multiple phases, will rebuild the 9.6-mile stretch of Red and Purple Line track structure and stations on the North Side that are a century old. RPM will replace aging infrastructure; increase CTA’s capacity to increase train service as needed; and improve our service for customers with more reliable, comfortable service. Future phases of RPM have not yet been announced and are currently unfunded. For more information on RPM Next Phases, please visit transitchicago.com/rpm/next-phases.

 

Learn more about RPM online at transitchicago.com/RPM and sign up for project alerts at transitchicago.com/RPMalerts.