CTA announces funding for long-awaited, multibillion-dollar rail extension

[January 11, 2025]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Chicago Transit Authority is moving forward to extend the Red Line on the city’s Far South Side, at a cost of more than $1 billion per mile.

The project would extend the line five-and-a-half miles from 95th Street to the city’s southern boundary at 130th Street with four new stations.

Officials signed an agreement Friday for $1.97 billion from federal taxpayers. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimated the total cost to be $5.75 billion.

Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, said it was important to act before his friend, President Joe Biden, leaves office.

“We want to make sure, whatever the change may be, the Red Line will finally be finished to 130th Street,” Durbin said.

Durbin has been in the Senate since 1997. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the Red Line extension project was proposed by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1969.

“To see the opportunity come alive is truly a testament to who we are as a city, our resilience,” Johnson said.

CTA President Dorval Carter said he did not expect the price tag of $5.75 billion to go up because contracts have already been signed, but he said the price tag could have been lower.

“Do you know how much it would have cost if we had built this project back when we built the Dan Ryan portion of the Red Line? $144 million,” Carter said. “I would have loved for this project to have been significantly less than what it is today, but the truth of the matter is, we’re making up for the fact that we didn’t do this 60 years ago when we should have.”

In addition to the federal funding announced Friday, the CTA reports that it directed $365 million in its Capital Improvement Program (2022-2025) towards the RLE Project to fund engineering and design activities. This is in addition to the $75 million that was used for environmental review and preliminary engineering work. These funds are part of the local match for the federal New Starts grant program.

In addition, the agency stated that the project will receive $130 million funds paid by federal taxpayers from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

CTA was also granted a special transit-only tax-increment financing district which will provide for $950 million of the local tax funding for the RLE project.

Chicago-area transit agencies are facing an estimated fiscal cliff of $730 million in 2026. CTA alone is facing a $577 million budget shortfall.

State Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, D-Chicago, expressed support for the project.

"I think it’s fantastic that the people on the Far South Side of the city of Chicago are now going to get service long overdue,” Delgado told The Center Square.

Delgado said it’s important that the project reflects a vision for the future.

“As we talk about the vision of the future of transit, let’s make sure that that line connects, so it’s not just about those stations that are being built. How are we making sure that all of the other transit services in and around that area are connected with bus lines and making sure that Pace, Metra and CTA are all talking to each other so folks can get the most out of that new infrastructure,” Delgado said.

According to the CTA, the 5.5-mile extension will include four new fully accessible stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue, and 130th Street. Multimodal connections at each station will include bus, bike, pedestrian and park and ride facilities. The RLE project also includes a new railyard and maintenance shop near 120th Street.

CTA estimates the start of construction in late 2025, with service beginning in 2030.