CTA ready to start Stage B of Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization Project this summer
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will begin Stage B of the Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization Project that includes station and track construction. The work is part of the authority’s larger Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project that will modernize aging infrastructure to increase capacity and increase train service.
The Lawrence to Bryn Mawr Modernization Project is occurring in two stages. Stage A started in 2021 and includes the reconstruction of the northbound Red and Purple tracks between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr. Stage B will begin when Stage A is complete. CTA will close the two older west tracks and begin to rebuild what will be the southbound Red and Purple track structures. CTA will also begin to construct the new, fully accessible Red Line stations at Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr. The work will include new tracks, support structures, bridges and viaducts built along the approximately 1.3-mile segment between Leland and Ardmore Avenues, eliminating many deteriorated structures in the community.
Stage B will include the demolition of the southbound Red and Purple Line westernmost tracks, which will see the complete demolition of the embankment wall and bridges over cross streets in the Uptown and Edgewater communities.
CTA’s contractor, Walsh-Fluor, will build new track support columns on the west side of the track structure, drill deep shafts to create the foundations for the new support columns and install the columns on top of the drilled shafts.
The authority says the new bridges and tracks will be built via an overhead gantry system that will install pre-cast concrete bridge segments that are manufactured off-site and trucked into the RPM project area. CTA says this construction method minimizes impacts to the community and the area needed by the contractor around the Red Line tracks to perform the construction work.
CTA says by starting the last major phase of this modernization, the authority is moving closer to providing customers with smoother, more reliable rail service, as well as fully accessible Red Line stations with elevators and escalators, wider platforms and other amenities.
“We continue to work hard to improve the Red Line, from rebuilding century-old infrastructure to extending the Red Line on the Far South Side to expand access to transit,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “The RPM project is an important part of our commitment to making the entire CTA rail system fully accessible. I look forward to opening the new Red Line stations with elevators and escalators for our customers.”
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
