CTA preps for track renewal project with job fair, land lease

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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CTA

The Chicago Transit Authority Board has approved a temporary lease for property that will be used as a staging area for construction related to the Red Line South Track Renewal Project.

“Our construction staff is already planning ahead, taking necessary steps to ensure everything is in place before constructions begins, so that work proceeds as smoothly as possible,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool.

The property is owned by Saint Bernard Hospital on the south side of West 63rd Street between Harvard and Stewart Avenues, one block from the CTA Red Line. The approximately 44,750-square-foot vacant lot will be used for staging construction equipment and materials for the Red Line South project, which will rebuild the entire line from Cermak-Chinatown to 95th Street in 2013, providing faster, more comfortable and more reliable service for Red Line riders.

The term of the lease is 18 months and includes a one-time fee of $50,250, which represents current fair-market value. CTA or its contractor will also make improvements to the lot at the end of the lease term.

The lease fee and the cost of the improvements are budgeted into the overall cost for the Red Line South project, which comes from a mix of state and local funds.

The CTA will also host the first of several job fairs, intended to assist individuals interested in career opportunities as part-time bus operators related to the 2013 Red Line South track renewal project.

The first fair will be held on Monday, July 30, 2012. The fair is the first in a series of three community job fairs on Chicago’s South Side to seek applicants for PTBOs whose work will involve driving shuttle buses and operating buses that are part of CTA’s expanded supplemental service during the Red Line South project.

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