Chicago's project to modernize the O'Hare brand of the CTA Blue Line reached a milestone Friday, with the new Belmont Blue Gateway project to be unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Belmont Blue Gateway project is the largest to date under the $429 million "Your New Blue" program, announced two years ago to overhaul and upgrade the Blue Line.
The Belmont stop is the ninth of 14 total stations to be renovated in the project, according to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.
The new Belmont station now has a new steel canopy over the terminal to give riders extra shelter, a modernized bus arrival and departure area, new LED lighting, safety upgrades and more. It also now has a prepaid boarding area for riders, the first station on the line to test the system.
The Belmont station opened more than 50 years ago, according to the city, and had not seen any major changes since the Blue Line was extended to O'Hare Airport in 1984.
In addition to the improvements at 14 stations, the CTA will also replace and repair tracks and modernize signals along the 12-mile stretch of the Blue Line.
When all is completed, the "Your New Blue" project's upgrades are expected to save travelers up to 10 minutes on a round trip between downtown and O'Hare, according to Emanuel's office.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled for 10:15 a.m., officials said.
