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Dive brief:
Diving knowledge:
The milestone brings the effort, the largest completed capital project in CTA history, closer to the finish line after years of construction activity, according to the release.
Since construction began in 2019, construction crews have made significant progress maintaining rail transit service. For example, crews have replaced just over 2 miles of 100-year-old elevated track between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr and rebuilt four stations into modern, accessible facilities, according to the release.
The project also includes the Red-Purple Bypass, a new elevated bypass for Chicago’s Brown Line. According to Fluor, the upgrade eliminates route conflicts and improves service performance on the Red, Purple and Brown lines.
Contractors also installed 11 miles of new track digital circuit signaling. According to the release, this will increase capacity immediately while allowing for future improvements in signaling and rolling stock.
The FTA awarded funding for a Red and Lila modernization project in 2017 and subsequently a separate one was approved Red line extension grant in 2025. The two projects together support the CTAs Red Ahead programa multi-million dollar initiative to improve the transit system in the Windy City.
In October 2025, federal officials issued a policy change around diversity and inclusion programs and put CTA grants under review. A judge ordered the DOT to restore the funding in March.
A similar result occurred in New York and New Jersey, where a federal judge blocked the DOT from freezing funds in the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project about the DBE program.
