The Chicago Transit Board has approved a $23m plan to renovate the Blue Line’s Illinois Medical District CTA station.
Three entrances of the station will be upgraded, the main stationhouse on Ogden Avenue will be rebuilt, and a new elevator and stairs will be added to improve disabled access.
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The two auxiliary entrances at Damen and Paulina will be refurbished with new flooring, wall and ceiling finishes, fare-payment equipment and customer assistant kiosks.
The project also includes enhancement of station and platform lighting, installation of additional security cameras and CTA Bus and Train Tracker displays, and repairs to the station platform canopy.
CTA president Forrest Claypool said: "We are pleased to begin much-needed improvements to the Illinois Medical District Blue Line station, which is a critical transit hub for thousands of patients, employees and students who visit the state’s premier medical, education and technology center each day."
Over the last five years, ridership at the IMD Blue Line station has increased by 53% to about 1.1m station entries in 2013.
The intergovernmental deal for the project funding is subject to City Council approval.
Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said: "This much-needed rehabilitation project will help tens of thousands of commuters daily, and strengthen the medical district, the neighborhood, and the entire Blue Line."
The station is the CTA rail stop for the Illinois Medical District (IMD), which is home to the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Rush University Medical Center and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.
Image: Illinois Medical District CTA Station. Photo: courtesy of Zol87 from Chicago, IL, US.
