Updated artist renderings of a remodeled Chicago Transit Authority stop, released Tuesday, show floor-to-ceiling windows, a grand hallway and an enclosed walkway to provide commuters with a safer transfer between buses and trains.
The proposed $240 million renovation of the bus and train station, announced in June 2012, is slated to begin in mid-2014, with most of the funds coming from a federal Department of Transportation grant.
"I am one hundred percent committed to having world-class infrastructure throughout the City of Chicago, and I will always fight for every opportunity to rebuild, repair, or renew our infrastructure and keep Chicago competitive," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said when the project was announced.
Planning of the station renovation, on the CTA's Red Line, continued even as portions of the line -- which the mayor has called the "backbone" of the entire transit network -- was shut down for several months during a multi-million dollar renovation project.
CTA officials said the existing station was built in 1969 and is among the agency's busiest, with nearly 20,000 commuters passing through it each weekday.
