The Chicago Transit Authority’s transformation of the 95th Street Red Line station is becoming visible to people who don’t even ride mass transit.
CTA 95th Street Terminal under construction (Photograph via CTA)
Officially, this is a “terminal,” not a “station” because it is the end of the line for passengers. But hope springs eternal for the Red Line extension down to 130th street, now in its fourth decade of promises from the city’s politicians.
When trains do start rolling to the transit-parched half of the city, the passengers will delight in the refreshed 95th Street station, and the new pedestrian bridge installed last week.
CTA 95th Street Terminal under construction (Photograph via CTA)
In the photos from the CTA above and below, you can see that the structure was hoisted into place in three pieces, and now stretches 150 feet across 95th street. If you want to do this at home, you’ll need a crane that can lift at least 73,000 pounds. You might also want to let the neighbors know about it first.
That bridge will eventually connect the renovated north terminal building with the new south terminal building. The idea is to give both CTA and Greyhound buses a lot more room to load and stage. With 20,000 people using the facility each day, it’s badly needed. Here’s a rendering to give you an idea of where CTA’s going with this:
Rendering of the CTA 95th Street Terminal (Image via CTA)
If you don’t get to the south side much, you might think the red racing stripes are just the typical kind of creative blandishment we are used to seeing in architectural renderings. But the good news is — the red is real.
That’s a CTA photo of the new south terminal, taken in April 2018.
CTA 95th Street Terminal (Photograph via CTA)
When that photograph was taken, the CTA was still promising completion by the end of this year. We haven’t heard anything different since then, and it’s not known if “completion” includes the pedestrian bridge, or just the new station buildings.
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- CTA 95th Street Terminal under construction (Photograph via CTA)
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- CTA 95th Street Terminal under construction (Photograph via CTA)
Location: 15 West 95th Street, West Chesterfield/Princeton Park/Roseland/Longwood Manor
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
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