Strategic investments allow CTA to Improve fleet, facilities

Written by jrood

With the onset of the recession this year, government agencies, private businesses and individual households all faced budget challenges and the Chicago Transit Authority was no exception. Due to the significant consequences presented by the slowing economy, as the CTA developed its 2009 Budget, staff sharpened their pencils and looked for ways to streamline operations and reduce costs without impacting the quality or level of service provided. Despite financial constraints, the CTA continued to innovate in 2009 and apply the best solutions to keep Chicago moving.

Stimulus funds were put to
good use for rail riders to improve travel as well. Work began in the spring to
replace seven miles of track, remove existing slow zones and prevent future
slow zones on the Blue Line from Division on the O’Hare branch to Clinton on
the Forest Park branch. A total of $88 million in stimulus money was used to
fund the work, the majority of which was completed this month.

Several projects
representing critical investments in CTA’s infrastructure also were completed
throughout the year. In March, renovation of the Howard station on the Red Line
was completed. The Howard station was originally built in 1908 and rebuilt in
the 1920s. The project brought the station into the 21st century by providing
riders with a new ADA accessible stationhouse equipped with four elevators, two
new escalators, gap fillers and tactile edging.

The final two Brown Line
stations that closed for construction as part of the capacity-expansion project
reopened in 2009. Both the Paulina and Wellington Brown Line stations reopened
in the first half of the year and feature two new elevators that made both
stations newly accessible to customers with disabilities. Work at the final two
of 18 stations in the project is nearly complete. Both Belmont and Fullerton,
which have remained open for service throughout the project, will be completed
by the end of this year. The $530-million investment in the Brown Line has
improved transit for many customers who were unable to board a Brown Line train
during rush hour because of overcrowding, or who could not use many of the
stations along the line because they were not accessible.

Adding to an improved
travel experience, efforts to reduce slow zones continued in 2009. In the
summer of 2007, the CTA began an aggressive plan to eliminate existing slow
zones throughout the system. At its peak, slow zones existed on 22.3 percent –
or 263,526 feet of the rail system. As of last week, slow zones occupy 5.9
percent or 70,176 feet of track. The CTA rail system contains approximately
1,181,106 feet of track – the equivalent of 224 miles.

Significant progress was
also made with projects that look to the future to expand service. Locally
preferred alternatives were determined for extensions of the Red, Orange and
Yellow lines. The next step will be to develop Environmental Impact Statements
as the agency works to secure funding through the Federal Transit Administrations
New Starts program.

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