The Federal Transit Administration has committed $1.97 billion to extend the CTA Red Line south to 130th Street, a key source of funding that will allow the long-awaited project to move forward.
The federal commitment is expected to cover half the cost of the extension. The CTA hasn’t received most of the money yet, but the funds are considered locked in for the agency as the project progresses into future phases.
The money is less than the CTA initially sought for the extension of the Red Line, the transit agency’s busiest route. The agency had requested $2.37 billion, or 60% of the estimated project cost. It was an unusually large request, and the federal agency told the CTA the maximum it would pay was half the cost of the project. That leaves the CTA with some $400 million less than it had asked for.
At a news conference Friday morning, CTA President Dorval Carter said the award from the FTA was the largest transit infrastructure investment in the history of the CTA.
Spokesperson Brian Steele said the agency hadn’t identified where the roughly $400 million would come from, but the CTA could draw it from multiple local, state or federal sources.
“If the question is, ‘Will we be able to get the money to make the project whole,’ the answer is: absolutely,” he said.
The project calls for extending the Red Line 5.6 miles past its terminal at 95th Street. The extension, which would be elevated for much of its length and run at ground level near the end, is planned to have four stations: 103rd Street near Eggleston Avenue, 111th Street near Eggleston, Michigan Avenue near 116th Street and 130th Street near the northeast corner of Altgeld Gardens.
The Red Line extension has the potential to be a major investment in the city’s Far South Side, even as it means acquiring dozens of residents’ homes.
Friday morning, Chicago and federal officials touted the impact of the project for the Far South Side and the rest of the city and region. Mayor Brandon Johnson said the project had the potential to help residents reach jobs and education, and to spur economic growth on the city’s Far South Side.
“We are now significantly closer to being able to provide a point of connection that’s been missing on the South Side for half a century,” he said. “The CTA is a pathway to opportunity and enrichment. Every resident deserves convenient access to buses and trains, taking them to all 77 neighborhoods of our great city and well beyond.”
Carter said he was driven to the Roseland news conference, highlighting the need for the Red Line extension.
“That is part of the problem,” he said. “We’re sitting in a part of the city with public transportation options that are extremely limited compared to what they will be with this project. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’ll be the happiest person in the world when I can hop on the Red Line and come down to 111th Street.”
The large FTA grant commitment comes as Carter has faced pressure from riders, advocates and lawmakers as complaints mounted during the pandemic about CTA service, safety and conditions. He remains in the hot seat as Mayor Brandon Johnson builds his administration.
The CTA has already been awarded $350 million of the FTA grant. The CTA’s initial plans for paying for the rest of the project call for drawing on other federal and local money.
That included a special tax district approved by Chicago aldermen in December 2022. The district is expected to raise $959 million, and help the CTA meet the required local match for the federal money.
If all goes according to plan, preliminary work on the project, such as moving utilities, could begin later this year, and ground could formally be broken in late 2025, the CTA said. Trains could be running by 2029.
“We know that there is not a good alignment between where people live along this corridor and with good paying jobs,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said. “And that’s why this rail extension is so important, it’s imperative. Because it is going to start to close that gap. It’s going to make that opportunity available not only for those that have a job today, but those that are seeking a job.”
