CTA Blue Line Station At Illinois Medical District To Get $23M Upgrade
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The CTA's board Wednesday approved renovation of one of the system's busiest 'L' stations.
More than a million riders a year use the Illinois Medical District station on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line. Much of the station has not been modernized since the median-strip 'L' line opened in 1958, and its Paulina Street entrance sustained heavy damage last month when it was struck by lightning.
CTA Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fine said $23 million, funded through tax increment financing, will be spent "to make the station improvements that will increase accessibility and return the station to a state of good repair."
The Ogden Avenue entrance will get an elevator, making all three entrances handicapped accessible. The Ogden entrance currently has only stairs; the station's Paulina and Damen entrances already have ramps.
The renovation will include improved station and platform lightning, additional security cameras, new Bus Tracker and Train Tracker displays and improvements to the station canopy. The work on the station, the CTA's third-busiest, should be completed late next year.
The station serves the Rush University, Stroger, University of Illinois and Jesse Brown Veterans Administration Hospitals as well as Malcolm X College and the United Center.