Thursday, December 29, 2016

Progress! Wilson Red Line Construction From July Through December


Here's a five-minute look at the progress on the Wilson Red/Purple Line station over the past six months. So much has happened since the groundbreaking in late 2014, with one more year of construction to go.

It'll be a busy 2017. We are looking forward to seeing the remaining century-old tracks come down, eliminating most of the support pillars in the traffic lanes along Broadway and Leland. We can't wait to see the historic Gerber Building restored, along with a modern new station house.  Acclaimed artist Cecil Balmond will be doing the custom art installation at the entrance.

But most of all, we are excited about the new elevator and escalator! Elderly and disabled people will be able to easily access the trains in Uptown for the first time ever.

Thank you to Luke Starkenburg, who created this clip. If you'd like a ride down memory lane, he also did a video of the beginning phases of the work, from October 2014 through October 2015.

2 comments:

  1. An escalator and an elevator! OMG! I won't have to go to Belmont to get on the train anymore.

    But what about the Lawrence & Sheridan stops??? They need escalators & elevators as well.

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    1. Pay attention to the news...or even visit the CTA website from time to time, since those things are all old news. The elevators and escalators have been part of the plan for Wilson ever since the final plans were rolled out to the community several years ago. The new mega-TIF approved by the City for the Red Line work is intended to partially-finance reconstruction of tracks and stations from Lawrence north to Bryn Mawr in a few years, adding elevators but not escalators to those stations. There are no concrete plans at this time to do anything at Sheridan, but long-range plans take the dog-leg out of the tracks there and shift the station north to Irving Park Road.

      And if I'm not mistaken, there are elevators and escalators at Addison, which is closer than Belmont.

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