West Loop shoppers and residents could see a new CTA station on the Green and Pink Line at Lake and Morgan as early as late 2011.
The new station is a city, not a CTA, project. It would fill a 1.5 mile gap on the line between Clinton and Ashland, and serve the growing West Loop community, according to Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele.
One big reason the city chose to go ahead with the $35 million to $40 million project is that it found funding for it. To pay for the station, the city was able to tap $8 million in federal air quality funds, and cover the rest with tax-increment finance revenues, which are frequently used for infrastructure improvement.
"For several years now, the city has been looking at an infill station between Ashland and Clinton," Steele said.
Bids for the project opened on Monday. The city now has to go through the process of selecting the winning bidder, Steele said. Construction could get started early next year.
The city often handles station projects in the downtown area -- it is paying to fix up the Red Line subway station at Grand and State. It has also looked at the idea of building a stop on the south leg of the Green Line between Roosevelt and 35th Street -- a notion the CTA has discussed for years. But there are no concrete plans for a station right now, Steele said.
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